In Spite of it All
by hernobleness
Summary: Nohr: a land filled with darkness and secrets. Within this darkness, five siblings hold tight to one another - four who live free and one who is the country's biggest secret. But in spite of the lies, they were a family. In spite of it all, they loved each other. The story of Corrin's childhood in Nohr as seen by the four siblings.
1. Prologue: Gunter

**A/N: I'm back, and trying something new! After months of trying to map this story out and meticulously combing Fates supports, I give you this. This story will be 5 chapters in all - the prologue from Gunter and then one chapter for each Nohrian sibling.**

 _Warning: The whip Garon gave Gunter plays a role in one part of this chapter, though only to prompt some afterthoughts. If the word alone freaks you out though, this warning's for you._

* * *

 _It was a perfect lie._

 _You were one of us._

 _But you never belonged here._

 _And all those years, somehow – deep down – you knew._

 _But in spite of it all, we were a family._

 _And in spite of it all, we still found ourselves here._

* * *

Unsurprisingly, it was another eerily dark evening in Nohr. The Northern Fortress was left to be shrouded in fog and the shadows of the clouds above, a near-full moon casting its pale light over their gray masses as it lay amongst dim stars. Within the mountains of Nohr's northern lands, the fortress provided the only burning light between the steep peaks and dying forests that surrounded it. However, despite being a source of light, the fortress was growing darker and darker from within by the minute – figuratively speaking, that is.

"What do you mean 'she won't leave her room?'"

King Garon could be heard from most corners of the fortress as he yelled. He had a voice that, when anger found it, boomed through every hall and pierced each heart that it crossed with fear. It was the voice of a man who'd felt no other emotion in far too long – hollow, gravelly, and completely possessed with an anger far too large for any given situation.

Gunter flinched inwardly from where he stood before the king. His ears were met with the echoes of Garon's shouting as the stone walls of the entryway reflected the sounds. The knight suspected it was this very voice that had sent the young princess scurrying to the safety of her bedroom. Just as it had in the times before.

"Your Highness, if I may," the guard began with his head bowed, sure to keep his voice as level as possible. He knew all too well the extent of the king's wrath when he felt slighted. "I think it wise to wait for the princess to come to you."

Garon's gaze flared, the chandelier's light from above them turning haunting as they reflected in his cold, red eyes. His brows lowered and twisted with rage. His stare carried a burning and unrelenting indignation, boring through Gunter with an ever-present fury that none could ever speak out against.

"I am the king!" he bellowed, his voice echoing up the store stairwell. A young man who stood guard at the foot of the steps flinched, gripping his lance a bit harder in fear. No doubt this voice was reaching the young princess as well, scaring her to her very core. "Am I expected to wait on the whims of another?"

With a shallow sigh, Gunter resigned. With what respect he could muster, he replied, "No, milord."

He feared for the child, for if her father – or rather, simply the king, to be more correct – were to find her while he was in such an agitated state... Well, a guard was in no position to judge the actions of his king, but to lash out against a child would be needlessly cruel, would it not?

Thankfully, Garon followed his feelings of exasperation rather than rage. He turned on his heel and beckoned to his personal guard with a commanding wave of his hand, and he left the Northern Fortress for the capital city. In his wake he left an entire staff of frightened servants, a defeated knight, and a scared young princess who'd spend the remainder of the evening in the safety of her bedroom.

Unwittingly, Gunter let out a breath he'd not consciously been holding. To see Garon's wrath unleashed on yet another child... He wouldn't be able to bear it. He knew the princess' cries of pain would only echo in his mind as the cries of a young boy, of a woman he'd loved all his life. Garon had hurt and taken too many in Gunter's life, and oh how the knight – the victim left standing in the void their departed souls had left behind – wished the king would suffer.

The king, but not necessarily the princess.

* * *

Two days later, a black carriage arrived at the gates of the fortress. Its horses, clad in the fine black and gold armor of the royal capital, immediately indicated a summons from the king. As proof of this, the coachman delivered a white scroll to the doorstep, leaving it in Gunter's hands. It seemed he was to report to Castle Krakenburg. He had a feeling they would be discussing the princess, and he had an even stronger hunch that it would not mean good things for her.

He went dutifully, although a dark pit rested in his stomach through the entirety of the carriage ride. The last time he'd ridden to the capital palace like this, the king had had a very strange offer for him indeed. The last time, he'd been offered the blood of a dragon. The last time, he'd vowed never to return.

The knight reminded himself to keep his wits about him. With a slow inhale and exhale, he cleared his mind of anxieties and focused on the scenery passing by outside the window, the clopping of the horses' hooves on the dirt roads. The shadows that covered Nohr looked more foreboding that day.

* * *

"Gunter..." King Garon's voice scratched from his throat. He gazed down at the knight without amusement, his arms resting stiff and strong on the sides of his throne. Vines sprawled across the walls behind him, framing him in an ominous light. The vision of menacing: The Obsidian King.

Gunter stood before him at the foot of the steps to the throne, hands clasped at the base of his back, head bowed in respect. Although, was it truly out of respect, or was it out of a desperate will to avoid the gaze of that sinful statue in the ceiling?

Looking down from his perch, Garon spoke in slow, heavy words. "You, who lead my armies to victory. You, who turned away the blood of a dragon, as though you had any right to refuse the king who offered it to you. You, who I have given a second chance to redeem himself..."

His voice rose a decibel or two, more threatening than if he'd simply yelled. Yelling, Gunter was used to. Yelling, he could handle, but this cold, calculated tone betrayed schemes and plans unspoken. He half expected Garon to explode and reveal his intentions any moment, but the king remained controlled on his throne, eyes never leaving his subject and arms never leaving their stone armrests.

"You are failing."

Failing? Gunter's eyes finally rose in shock, quickly meeting the king's and awaiting an explanation. Failing in what? Failing how? He'd done everything asked of him thus far. Every menial task, every immoral command, he'd obeyed in the interest of holding the king's trust and his connection to the princess. How, exactly, had he failed? He wanted to shout in indignation, but bit his tongue and settled for a controlled, "My lord?"

Garon sat straighter, stronger in his throne. His eyes looked down at the knight, steadily growing more and more ablaze with a familiar anger. Gunter felt his stomach sink very slightly. Here came the explosion...

"I have entrusted you with the knowledge of Corrin's origins," he said. "And I have entrusted you with the task of making her into a Nohrian: proud, unflinching, and _strong."_

Gunter recoiled almost invisibly. Of course, he aimed to turn the young princess into a true Nohrian someday, for they were a people worth the pride they held in their hearts. Admirable and brave they were; this Gunter knew, for he'd fought as a Nohrian side by side with his people. He'd experienced their determination, their loyalty and their camaraderie firsthand.

But the fact of the matter was that Princess Corrin was no Nohrian. As it was – her hiding away in her room, her memories constantly being wiped by "healers" until nothing remained – it was hard enough to get her to function, let alone bend to the will of another. He could no more make her into a Nohrian than he could make the afternoon sky into a blanket of stars.

"And in your time with her," Garon continued to press. Slowly, he rose from his throne and made short steps towards Gunter as he spoke, his feet landing with unsettling thuds as they descended the steps to the knight's level below. His voice grew angrier as he closed in on his subject. "You've allowed her to remain a weakling who hides away from any and all contact! I already had one child who behaved as such; I don't need another!"

Gunter remembered, however vaguely, another of Garon's children who'd been much the same. The girl had slipped quite under the radar of the Nohrian people, not being of Garon's blood, but rather his stepdaughter by the late Queen Arete. Though perhaps it truly was her relative silence and tendency to hide away that had contributed to her being forgotten. Gunter knew not what had become of the girl, but based on Garon's treatment of Corrin in _her_ shyness, he hated to imagine an answer.

He spoke up once more to the king, finding the courage in him to speak the idea that had been forming in his head for months. If – in the past – he couldn't speak up for Corrin, then at least he would now for the young stepdaughter, whose shyness caused her to be forgotten by all. He hated to think of the new princess befalling such a fate. What use would she be if she held no power?

"With all due respect, King Garon," he said, his voice growing less tame and regaining its usual confidence. "I believe the child would open up much more willingly if we were to perhaps improve her living situation. Were she not treated as a prisoner, she may grow more comfortable with us."

Garon's face didn't react at all. He now stood right before Gunter, so close that the knight could see the cold glaze in his eyes and the shade of his even colder gray skin. Before he'd even spoken, the king made it clear that he wouldn't entertain such an idea.

"Hardship builds character," declared Garon. His face remained hardened as his voice grew louder, rising with each syllable. "I don't need her coddled, I don't need her doted on. How will she survive the conditions of a ruthless battlefield if she never once learns to survive the trivial problems of a princess in private – what some might call sheltered – fortress?''

A pause in Gunter's breath. He couldn't give up so quickly, but...

Surely Corrin could still be strong without strife? He wanted to use the other princes and the princess as an example, though he realized before speaking that Princess Camilla and Prince Leo were living anything but pampered lives, and Prince Xander... Well, he received favored treatment from his father, and he was far softer than one would wish from the crown prince of a nation of warriors. The other siblings had either been banished with their mothers, disappeared, or – in the most unlucky of cases – killed.

Gunter thought quick and hard, but one look at Garon's displeased, threatening expression, and he knew there was no argument he could make. None that would land him anywhere but on the edge of the king's axe, at least. He was getting worked up again. To continue to argue could be fatal, and he wouldn't be able to help the princess at all from his grave.

Moreover, he'd fall without ever gaining his revenge – and to the very man he so desperately wanted it against. No... he needed to live, to stay close to Garon, and live to see the day he avenged his family.

Releasing his breath, he resigned, choosing to live to fight another day.

"You're right, King Garon."

The slightest softening of the king's brows followed, the creases of anger and age in his face becoming shallower.

"I know," he said with finality. His eyes still locked in on Gunter, he reached his hand to his side. From below the fur of his magnificent cape, he drew a thin, leather object, long and coiled around itself. On one end the light flashed off a solid handle.

Gunter felt his stomach seize within him.

The king held out the whip, a coiled leather snake, waiting for Gunter to take it from him. The knight's hands raised slowly, his concentration dedicated to keeping his eyes from widening in shock. Garon couldn't mean for him to strike the poor girl, could he? She was barely five years of age...

But, alas, this was the king: cold, violent, a murderer. Of course he could.

"Take this," commanded Garon, his voice unsettling Gunter's heart more and more with each word. "And with it, shape her into a child worthy of the Nohrian royal name. One day, she will be our weapon against those eastern heathens. She'll need to be strong enough to suit the role."

And yet, all he said had a ring of truth. She was the one who would be their key to Hoshido, who could get on the inside someday. She would need to be strong enough to bear that weight on her own.

That girl, the young princess, so shy and fearful would need to be a leader, and a powerful one. As much as Gunter hated it...

"You must teach Corrin to behave. If these are the measures we must take to reach that goal, then so be it." Sensing his knight's hesitation, seeing how pensively he stared at the weapon in his hands, Garon's voice had grown to border a yell.

Closing his eyes for only the briefest of moments, Gunter resigned himself mentally to the king's orders. Corrin needed to avoid her father's wrath, as did he. _Live to fight another day._

He left Windmire that day, a whip in his hand, defeated once more.

* * *

Gunter arrived back at the Northern Fortress late that evening. The sun was setting as he entered the gates, the towers of the fortress casting long shadows across the ground and even the mountains to the east. Candlelight was already burning from within. In spite of himself, his heart warmed with comfort at the sight of his home (for all intents and purposes) after this long day.

Though the day was not yet over, it seemed. Not a moment passed after the wooden doors of the entryway fell closed behind him before Gunter heard his name being called.

Weary from both his travels and his conversation with the king, the knight looked up tiredly. One of the guards was making his way down the stairs at the end of the stone hallway, his sights set on the man whose name he was calling.

"Sir Gunter!" the young guard called, his light armor hanging loose on his slender form as he descended the stairs. A hard tapping came from the solid material of his boots and greaves as his feet hit the stone floors and approached their target.

Eyeing the boy with mild curiosity when at last he stood before Gunter, the older man replied, "Yes?"

A quick, deep breath and the guard replied carefully, "The princess has locked herself in her room again."

And so it began... The whip in Gunter's hands seemed to weigh a bit more in that moment.

"It's becoming a problem, sir," the knight continued delicately. The pinch in his eyebrows and worry in his eyes indicated a short time working in the castle – the rest of the staff had grown accustomed to the princess' self-confinement. This man, however, still seemed to hold a sensitivity which the others had already lost."She's refusing to come to her piano lessons, the maids can't get in to clean... The cooks say she hasn't accepted food since her last healing session."

'Since her last healing session'? This did manage to catch Gunter's attention.

On the first day of each month, the fortress was visited by sorcerers under the clever disguise of clerics. As far as the staff – ignorant to Princess Corrin's true heritage – knew, the healers came to treat the princess for her supposed "condition" which made her so physically frail as to need constant supervision, isolation, and a barrier around her fortress to make its inhabitants strong.

In reality, these "healers" came to wipe the girl of her memories. Each month, more and more would disappear from her mind until she remembered nothing of her life in Hoshido, of anything before Garon and Nohr. It was a necessary step in building her loyalty to Nohr; this, Gunter knew.

But her last healing session had been the day before Garon had come to check up on her. The day before last.

"She hasn't eaten in two days?" asked Gunter, appalled. A seed of worry grew in his stomach for the child's welfare, but also for the knowledge that Garon would be less than pleased to hear his new daughter was starving – be it by her own accord or otherwise.

"No, sir, she hasn't," the guard replied in a solemn voice. Seemingly as concerned as Gunter was, he asked with red, knitted brows, "What shall we do?"

" _You've allowed her to remain weak."_ Garon's voice echoed in Gunter's mind, chilling his feet and heart alike.

His fingers gripped the whip, still curled in his hand, a bit harder. Whether out of determination or anger, resolve or simply the notion of steeling himself, he didn't know.

Following his short pause of contemplation, the knight firmly decided on his actions. He would heed King Garon's commands just as he always had, and he would find a way to deal with the repercussions on his own terms – just as he always had. It was better this way; he could go easier on the young girl than her father would. He could make her understand. Even if it went against the very fibers of his being...

"Leave it to me," declared Gunter, explaining thereafter his orders from the king.

The guard's eyes widened with concern as Gunter recounted to him the contents of his counsel with the king. His surprise at hearing the cruelties of the Northern Fortress left no doubt in Gunter's mind that this young man was a new recruit.

"Sir?" the boy choked out, his young voice cracking and rising yet an octave higher. His eyes shot an appalled glance at the weapon in his superior's hand. With a genuine worry, he whispered, "You aren't going to...?"

"The king's orders are final." Gunter could speak with nothing but finality. As far as anyone in the fortress was concerned, those words were and would remain the truth – absolute and undisputed. "It would do you well to learn that now, ehm..." He faltered upon realizing he didn't know the new recruit's name.

"Cecil, sir," the boy finished curtly. But it seemed he hadn't quite said his piece yet. Once again, he attempted to speak up in the princess' defense. "But do you really think-"

"It is not our place to think. It is not our place to judge orders," Gunter interrupted, lest the boy continue any further than he – as the head of the household – could allow. His heart was in the right place, but in this very moment, that would only cause him trouble. "Especially not where the king is involved."

Cecil clearly wanted to fight back, but he made the wise decision to heed Gunter's word. It wasn't the place of an underling – or of any citizen, for that matter – to judge the judgment of the king. A man didn't tell the gardener how to plant the food grown for him, just as he didn't tell the king how to rule the land that housed him.

Reluctantly stepping aside, the poor Cecil resigned and allowed his superior to ascend the staircase behind him. Gunter didn't hear him walk away as he climbed the stone staircase. He could almost see the young man standing behind him, following his ascension with guilt-laden brown eyes. A couple weeks more in the fortress, and the softheartedness would be stomped out of him, no doubt. The cold, stone walls – so full of secrets – always seemed to have that effect on a man.

Gunter pulled his set of keys from his armor. He could open any door in the castle, each key to each door – including the princess' – dangling from one metal ring. He searched out the right one, large and thick to fit the equally sizable lock, and slid it into place within the ornate, wooden door. He was met with resistance as he tried to turn the lock open, but eventually he heard a loud click that proceeded to faintly echo down the stairwell behind him. He had no doubt that if Cecil was still waiting down below, he'd flinched.

Gunter expected light to pour into the hallway from the princess' quarters, but as he pushed the door open wider, it became clearer this would not be the case. His eyes scanned the room, adjusting to the faint evening sun filtering through closed curtains, turning gray as it fought through the dark fabric and tried to stream into her room. Her bed stood in the center of her quarters, unmade and bathed in the shadows. He saw her bookshelf, her vanity, all of her few possessions collecting dust, all in desperate need of the maids their owner was locking out of her room.

And lastly, his eyes fell on her.

She was easy to oversee. Huddled at the foot of her bed before Gunter, her dark dress blended in with the bleakness of her bedroom and drowned her in too much fabric; had it truly only been two days since she'd eaten? It seemed she'd been standing at the door before he'd entered, trying to keep him out, for she now sat cowering away from the handle, pulling her little knees to her chest.

Princess Corrin looked up at Gunter with eyes that stopped him cold. They were red – a painful reminder of her heritage, but it was not their color that froze his feet where he stood. It was the fear in them, unlike any he'd seen in even in all his years on the battlefield. Brimming tears reflected the terror in her heart back at him, and her one frightened glance at the whip in his hand sent his heart sinking towards his stomach.

She looked so small, so pitiful as she cowered on the ground, wordless. Though she needn't say a thing; the look she gave Gunter said all that was needed. The sorcerers may have been able to wipe the violence and pain of her past from her mind, but her heart had to remember still. Her father had been killed before her, her new father had sent her to the fortress and deprived her of life's joys by locking her away, the sorcerers cast painful and draining spells on her to make her forget it all. And here stood a man before her, sent by her kidnapper, captor and father, and she knew he was here to harm her yet once more.

This was surely why she'd been hiding to start with. She wasn't just frightened by Garon; she was frightened by the world. She was miserable. What could striking her do to fix that? All that a lash of a whip would do was break her trust further. All that would do was validate her fear and push her further away. It would only hurt her more.

Looking at the princess' quivering lip, a feeling awakened in Gunter that he'd not felt in many, many years. His heart ached for her in sympathy; she was only a child. He felt the instinct to wipe her tears away, to protect her and assure her that everything would be all right. She was small and fragile, almost as old as his boy had been when he'd been taken by King Garon, though he'd not been fortunate enough to be sent to a fortress. Garon had sent him straight to the grave...

That final thought was enough to draw Gunter to his senses. He remembered why he'd taken this post at the Northern Fortress – to use Corrin and gain his revenge on the king who'd taken everything from him. But one thing had never truly been taken from Gunter, and that was the instinct to protect such small and innocent beings. To take them in your arms and allow them to feel safe, to forever shelter them from harm. To show them there was nothing to fear as long as they have you.

Garon may have taken everything from him, but he was still a father. He would always be a father, whether or not his child yet walked the earth. And a true father could never strike a child, duties be damned.

"Good evening, princess," he whispered, loosening his grip on the whip in his hand Corrin's eyes settled so very slightly, and her quivering lip stilled as she watched the knight cautiously. Using the first excuse he could think of, Gunter simply told the girl, "Your dinner will be brought to you shortly. I must beg you eat this evening."

Almost hesitantly, Gunter let his eyes break away from Corrin's. She watched him with a mouth slightly agape as he backed out of the room. Surely she'd noticed the moment he'd gone through his sudden change of conscience and had been confused, but Gunter noticed the relief flickering into her eyes just before he closed the door shut.

He felt as though he ought to scold himself for cowardice, backing away from the king's orders without so much as a good lie as he did so. The princess was young, but surely she wasn't so daft as to think he'd gone to her quarters to inform her it was her dinnertime like some common maid. Even she had probably seen through that transparent excuse.

However, as much as he wanted to, Gunter couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. In fact, for the first time since coming to the fortress, he felt he might have finally done the truly right thing. He felt a piece of.. _himself,_ rather than the cold, perfect knight. Rather than the man focused solely on getting even.

At the foot of the stairs, he was met again by Cecil, who watched him with worried, expectant eyes. The boy shot a glance at the whip, noticing it was still rolled up and in Gunter's hand just as it had been before.

When he reached the final step, Gunter approached the young guard with authority, looking him straight in the eyes and making very clear, "If anyone asks you, I followed through. Understood?"

A few inches away from Gunter's face – close, serious and threatening – Cecil's eyes widened, a flurry of emotions running through them in a second as they met: worry, relief, happiness, and finally realization. Gunter had made clear before that following the king's orders was a must, and breaking them was entirely out of line. By leaving Corrin be, the knight had broken an order. Neither man wanted to see what would happen if word of this got out; Gunter could be dismissed, and it was without a doubt better that the princess keep her guard who would not harm her.

"Yes, Sir Gunter," replied Cecil. He nodded his red-haired head dutifully, total understanding on his soft face.

Just as they'd finished, a maid rushed by the two men with a bowl of soup in her hands. She sent a respectful greeting Gunter's way and quickly began to ascend the stairs to the princess' room. In the bowl, Gunter's eyes caught sight of an utterly bland broth, thick and brown – no doubt made from the leftover wheat in the kitchens that wasn't used on bread. There were hardly any vegetables, no meat at all in the bowl either... Was this all the princess was being given?

"A small wonder she doesn't eat," Cecil said, drawing Gunter back to his surroundings.

The knight replied with an affirmative "hm." The poor child... It really wasn't a mystery why she'd not eaten. Deprived of contact, deprived of family and love, and now deprived of a decent dinner. How else was a five year old child to react to being given soup made of mere leftovers?

A spark ignited in his mind, suddenly as a flash of lightning. It was a small idea, he thought, but perhaps if he were lucky it would help Corrin. Perhaps, if he were tactful...

That night, he went to his room, anxious for the morning. He fell asleep with his plan in mind and a course of action already worked out. All he needed to do was wait for breakfast.

When he retired to bed that night, he left the whip from Garon sitting on his dresser, and there he let it lay.

* * *

At breakfast the following morning, Gunter sat at a full length table alone, just as usual. He'd risen early, taken an omelet with vegetables and fresh baked bread, just as usual. Through the tall windows to his left, he could see the rays of the sun just beginning to rise. At this time, he'd normally be heading out to the barracks to train. Today, however, he sat patiently at the table once he'd finished his meal, and he waited.

A good few minutes passed as he sat before his empty plate. Usually, he simply left his dishes at the table to be collected by one of the maids, but today was the day he would set his plan of action into motion. It would all begin with one request...

Finally, the maid serving him that morning entered the dining hall on the far side. She scurried in on her way to the kitchens with a bowl of food she'd picked up from someone's room in her hands. Gunter recognized it as the cheap bowl filled with soup that had been brought to Corrin's quarters the night before. From the way the maid carried it, it seemed to be still full.

So she'd skipped another meal... All the more reason to ask:

"Esme," Gunter called, signaling the maid. The young woman halted in her tracks, her short hair swinging as she turned her head towards the knight. Eyes widened and bowl still in hand, she awaited his request. Politely and inconspicuously, he requested, "I'll have seconds."

Esme put on a lovely smile and nodded in understanding. "Yes, sir. Right away." She continued on to the kitchens, and Gunter let out a breath of air he hadn't known he'd been holding.

He never ordered seconds; the breakfast he was given was always enough to fill him up until lunch. But even today, he wouldn't be eating a second helping. Oh no. This extra serving was going to someone who surely was much more hungry than he...

* * *

Escaping Esme's good service had been no simple feat. True, she had only been doing her job, but when Gunter had told her he'd been taking his second serving of breakfast up to his private quarters, she'd been beside herself offering to carry it for him. A good maid on the whole, but a poor one when trying to sneak food away to a young princess.

He'd made sure no one had followed him on his way to Princess Corrin's bedroom. The only soul he'd passed at this early hour was Cecil at the foot of the stairs, still stationed as the princess' guard for the night. The young man had seen the plate of food in Gunter's hand and seemed to understand, saying nothing but smiling slightly nonetheless. No doubt he was glad to bear witness to the dutiful boss' seemingly sudden change of heart.

Upon reaching Corrin's bedroom, Gunter knocked as lightly as he could and still be heard. No response came. He decided to test the handle, unsurprisingly locked. Finally, he balance the plate of food in his left hand, fishing out his keys and unlocking the door with his right. Slowly, so as not to startle the poor girl, Gunter nudged the door open.

It was dark, as per usual. The only difference to the previous night was that the princess was now huddled in her bed under her covers. A plate of scrambled eggs was going cold alongside a glass of water on her bedside table; Gunter figured Esme had recently brought the girl's breakfast up when she'd taken away last night's dinner. Corrin, however, hadn't seemed to touch her food.

"Good morning, princess," Gunter greeted the young girl warmly but carefully. The last thing he wanted was to scare her further.

Quietly, he shut the door behind him, letting it click shut and close out the relative brightness of the hallway. The princess remained unresponsive, pretending to be asleep under her blanket.

"I noticed you haven't been eating recently," continued Gunter. Slowly, trying to keep his boots from making too scary of a clanking noise, he made for the princess' bedside. "I thought I'd bring you something special and see if I couldn't persuade you to try it."

Still no response. As he approached her bedside, Corrin opened her eyes from the briefest flash, only to squeeze them back shut when she realized the scary metal man could see her. Gunter almost smiled, realizing just how much a child she still was underneath all of the special circumstances.

How would he have handled this situation with _his_ child?

Bittersweetly, Gunter remembered his boy. The little one could be convinced to do anything so long as he heard it would make him big and strong, just like the knights and warriors he looked up to. Though Gunter doubted "strength" was a word Corrin would be eager to hear. She heard it enough already from her father and the staff. But perhaps something else...

Gunter gingerly picked up a warm piece of bread from the plate – rich brown, soft, warm... When he held it out to her, its smell evidently wafted to her nose, for she sniffed ever so slightly and cracked her eyes open an inch.

"Why don't you try some bread?" Gunter offered kindly. "It's supposed to give you lots of energy. I eat it every morning so I'm ready to brave the day. Try some."

Perhaps in her fear, a promise of bravery was all she needed.

He pushed the piece of bread a bit closer to her, encouraging her to take it. For a long moment, he really thought she would still refuse. She sat unmoving, staring wide-eyed at the food before her for the longest time. However, she eventually gave into hunger or curiosity, pushed her covers back, and slowly moved to sit on her knees.

Gunter's heart beat a bit faster in excitement as Corrin carefully took the bread from his hands. He couldn't tear his eyes away as she tore off a tiny piece with her equally little hands, examining it curiously before lifting it into her mouth. Slowly, lightly, she chewed...

She smiled.

By the gods, she'd smiled!

It was a sight to bring a man to tears, this small, frightened young girl sitting before him, wasting away to nothing and finally taking joy in a meal. A soft 'mmm" hummed in her throat, and that smile seemed to involuntarily spread itself across her pale cheeks.

Gunter couldn't help but mirror her expression. He'd not seen her face so bright, not in the months since her father had arrived with her at the fortress and left her. She'd been solemn in all her activities, barely spoken a word. Who knew it would only take a piece of bread to bring out such a smile?

Again, Corrin ripped a piece of bread off and stuffed it in her mouth, eager for more. She chewed faster now, her hunger evidently catching up with her at the warm, delicious stimulus.

Once she'd swallowed, she looked up at Gunter with shy eyes and said in a tiny voice, "Thank you."

Gunter let out a chuckle and smiled at her. "You're very welcome, princess," he said softly. He now readily offered the rest of his plate to her in high hopes that she'd accept it. "I brought you an omelet and some fresh vegetables as well. Won't you try them as well?"

The princess' hands, still holding her bread, went still as her eyes stared at the plate. She looked longing, hungry, but her gaze soon fell upon Gunter instead.

"I've already eaten," the knight assured her, an amused tone in his voice. She seemed to have a kind heart, if nothing else. "You don't have to worry. Take it; it's yours."

After a beat of hesitation, Corrin took the plate from him, but not before quickly bowing at the neck in gratitude.

Gunter felt a sinking pit in his stomach for a moment thereafter. In Nohr, one nodded their head to show gratitude – and that was if any physical indication came at all. Bowing was a habit almost humorously distinctive of the eastern lands – of Hoshido. Thankfully, Corrin didn't seem to notice she'd done anything remarkable. She didn't seem to realize she'd done something out of the ordinary, meaning she likely couldn't attribute it to the land she'd come from. The sorcerers had wiped a lot from her memory, but it seemed they still had a ways to go... The poor soul.

Nonetheless, Gunter wiped the moment from his own mind and enjoyed the feeling of comfort that came at seeing the princess gobbling up the warm, fluffy omelet, chomping down on a bright orange carrot or crispy sweet pepper in between bites.

Patiently, he waited on her to finish her meal, making a kind comment or two here and there. When she was done, he took the plate back. He'd have to bring it back down to the kitchens as his own.

"So," he began as the princess sat quietly again on her bed. He looked her in the eyes and was glad to see she could make a bit more eye contact with him than before. "Do you feel ready to brave the day, milady?"

She seemed uncertain still, and Gunter half feared she'd dive back under her covers and hide. But when he held a hand out to her, she was able to take it very slowly. She nodded her head almost invisibly. Thanks to her special bread, she was ready to brave the day.

"Wonderful," said Gunter encouragingly. He held her hand as she crawled down from her bed, her short legs unable to reach the floor without a small leap down. Standing still, he nudged her lightly with his hand towards her dresser. "Why don't you get dressed? Your piano tutor will be here in about an hour, though you're welcome to come down earlier if you like."

He left her to get ready in her room, feeling a brilliant mixture of joy and unease. He knew that in pampering her, he was going directly against the king's orders. She was to focus on her studies, later on training. She was to live as a well-educated, cultured soldier, more or less. But Gunter had given her a luxury she had never been promised, and had even been indirectly denied to her by the king. Never would he have thought himself a man to ignore orders... But the memory of the smile on little Corrin's face, that alone was enough to provide him with solace for the time being.

Gunter began his training for the day after he'd dropped off the plate from "his seconds" with Esme in the dining hall. However, as he made to leave the fortress, he saw the young princess seated on the stairs next to Cecil, dressed for her lessons. Another smile was growing on her face as the young guard charmed her.

Perhaps there was some hope left in this situation yet... Yes, perhaps in her fear, a promise of bravery was all she needed.

* * *

As the seasons turned, Corrin grew ever more confident.

"Fortune smiles on the brave and frowns upon the coward," Gunter often told her. "Do you understand what that means? It means that if you find the strength in yourself to face the things you're most scared of, you'll be able to live a life free and bold. Cowardice will earn you nothing but the gods ensuring you never learn to make tough decisions or face the demons that haunt you."

So brave she became, and braver every day.

It began when Gunter turned the whip – that dreadful reminder of his orders from Garon – into a leather ball. He'd gone to her room and rolled it to her. She'd thrown it back with surprisingly good aim and a smile breaking her lips. She loved to play, he discovered, and he led her outside of her room for the first time in months to play catch in the garden. No one said a word against it; he'd finally gotten her out of her shell.

Through the months and through her healing sessions, Corrin did, however, still find herself plagued by spells of sleeplessness. Be it from pain or fear or memories that she couldn't explain, Gunter often could tell she was awake by the candlelight he'd see burning from up in her tower – she still had a lingering fear of darkness, likely due to her formative years spent in the sun.

He would read to her on such nights. While "on patrol of the castle" or "just going for a nightly stroll," he'd find his way to Corrin's room to read her one of the fairy tales she so loved from her bookshelf. However, this served a higher purpose than putting her to sleep.

As an older, wiser man, Gunter could often pick out a story's morals better than the young princess, and he'd weave them into a larger lesson to teach to her. Lessons of kindness, fairness, justice, honesty, or bravery. In doing so, he hoped...

Well, he wasn't sure what he hoped. As she continued to grow older, he became less and less sure of his purpose in the castle. Was he not there to gain revenge on King Garon? Did he not accept the position in hopes that he could use the new princess against her father?

Perhaps he did. Perhaps he taught her such kindheartedness in hopes of pulling her further away from the king, that one day she'd clash against his ideals and turn against him. Perhaps he did it to gain her trust, only to catch her off guard one day just as Garon had done to him.

But as he saw her age, growing into an ever stronger and more beautiful young woman, he could help but feel... proud. He couldn't help but be glad that he played a part in raising her, that she looked to him as one she trusted, and this joy came without ulterior motives. Most days, he couldn't help but feel that same feeling that had kept him from striking her that fateful day when she was barely five years old.

In spite of all that Garon had taken from him, beneath all the desperate desires for revenge and the feelings of loss and loathing, he wanted to protect Corrin. From the moment he saw her innocent smile, from the day she played catch with him in the garden, he wanted her to know things would be alright. He wanted to make sure she'd be alright.

He could've very well loved her as his own if only there weren't such an uncertainty in him. In the end, he knew who his true family was, and they were long gone. He would love her, yes, but in the end...

In the end, the memories of his son – so young, too young, a whole life lived with that full heart of his robbed from him at the age of four – and his wife, the beauty and his muse who had captured his heart and soul and made him the most blessed man in the realm... Those memories were simply too strong to forget. When he couldn't forget them, they hit him over and over, constant reminders to keep himself from becoming wholly attached to the princess. He had to remain loyal to his own family, and that meant avenging their deaths against the monster who caused them, no matter what the cost may be.

And so, he decided, it would be that he would continue to work in Lady Corrin's service. With his teachings, he would pull her away from Garon, that he may still be kind to her while accomplishing his personal mission. He would build her into a "strong" Nohrian, just as he'd been ordered, but he'd do it his way.

And he'd do it – every step of the way – in the hopes that she would turn against he man who'd kidnapped her and locked her up. In the hopes that Gunter himself, who disguised himself as a father figure to her, would never have to harm her on his own.

She would turn against the king, and with luck, she'd never know who had turned her.

* * *

 _It was a perfect lie._

* * *

 **A/N Well, there it is! A huge thanks to CallmeCrazylol for beta-ing for me.**

 **For reference, my canon ages for the siblings at the start of the game are Xander** **23, Camilla 21, Corrin 18, Leo 17, and Elise 12. You do the math from there ;) That's why there's no mention of Elise in this chapter - she's not even conceived yet.**

 **Updates for this will be slow, but Camilla is up next. Please review T.T**


	2. Camilla

_You were one of us_

* * *

In the foyer of the Northern Fortress, Xander and Camilla stood closer to one another than they'd been allowed in many a month. Now, no mother or father was in the way between them. Now, they stood before their new younger sister as something of a family, and that bond drew them elbow to elbow without them even noticing.

The youngest princess stood close to Sir Gunter's leg, hands timidly gripping his armor as she eyed her older siblings with apprehension. Camilla couldn't help but break a smile, endeared and hoping to put the poor girl at ease.

"Hello, Corrin," Xander's voice broke the stunned silence, gentle and kind. He sounded calm, for he'd had the privilege of meeting with their sister many months ago, in private with their father.

For Camilla, however, it was the first time. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her eyes rested on the small girl who timidly gazed with such precious ruby eyes at her brother. Another new sibling...

"Go along." Sir Gunter nudged the top of Corrin's head, gently trying to edge her forward towards her older siblings. She only seemed to cling harder to his leg in response, and she stayed rooted to her spot. Gunter tried to encourage her, "You remember your brother, Xander, don't you?"

Corrin nodded as her eyes glanced over her older brother, but she still slunk further behind her guard's back. Though a small bit of her head, one curious eye, still remained in Camilla's sight, staring her down with intrigue. Her gaze accidentally met her older sister's directly, whose heart jumped at the contact. Camilla smiled and waved a small wave, but the younger princess was spooked and retreated behind a mass of shiny, black armor.

It was no large wonder that Camilla hadn't been able to see her immediately. Father had told her Corrin was weak, and the girl wouldn't be able to take too much excitement at once. But Camilla never knew she'd be this terribly shy in addition.

The weakness came from her mother, Father had said – one of his attendants who'd been stationed at the summer palace. She was frail, and died shortly after Corrin's birth, the latter of whom had almost not survived either. It had taken more than five years of constant care from healers and taking residence in an enchanted fortress to get the young girl into good health. Father had said her survival was uncertain, and he hadn't wanted his children getting attached to her.

But then the day came when she'd heard Xander had been to the Northern Fortress. Her stomach had done an excited flip-flop, her mind had raced as she'd realized what that meant. Her other sister would survive! And if Xander had been allowed to meet her, she was sure to be next! She was the oldest of Garon's other children, after all. It would only be fair.

When she'd next seen her father, she'd asked him with barely contained joy when she would be taken to the fortress as well.

"Patience, Camilla," he'd commanded her stoically. Nary a word followed.

So she'd waited. Every day since Xander had been allowed to first visit Corrin, about four months ago, she'd been on pins and needles awaiting a summons from her father. She'd wandered through the halls of Clarkenstein, the villa in which she and the other royal children lived with their mothers, building up fantasies in her head about her new younger sister. Would she be pretty? Would she like to play games? Would she let Camilla play with her hair? And sing to her? And...

Would she love her? Few of her other siblings seemed to. Even her stepsister had avoided her if at all possible before being stolen away. Xander lived in Castle Krakenburg, and they rarely saw each other. Leo's mother watched him like a hawk. Clarissa had been kind before Marcus's mother had crushed up belladonna berries in her tea, and Marcus had done nothing but torment the others before he and his mother were executed. It was true that Marcus hadn't been the best older brother, and Clarissa and Camilla hadn't been especially close, but to lose even them was painful.

In eight years, Camilla had never had a real friend nor a sibling to hold onto. This could be her only chance. Corrin was a fresh slate, a new opportunity to build up something akin to a family bond. To grab onto that bond and never let it go. It could be Camilla's _last_ chance to make a good first impression and bud a new sisterhood; no children had been born since Clarissa, a year after Leo and almost four whole years ago. Although, rumors _had_ been spreading that one of Garon's nurses had become pregnant, but such gossip wasn't uncommon and was rarely true.

She _couldn't_ let Corrin hide away from her. Her heart was so full of so much love that no one had been willing to accept. All she wanted, above anything, was to give it to someone who may give it back. She could be the best big sister in the world to Corrin, she was certain. All she needed was the opportunity.

And so, just as Gunter was about to place his hand on Corrin's head and try to urge her forward once more, Camilla took the reins herself.

"It's alright," she cooed. The words on Gunter's tongue died as his eyes turned to rest on the oldest princess. Corrin's and Xander's followed, but Camilla remained focused solely on her sister. Keeping her voice soothing, she assured her, "You don't have to be afraid. My name is Camilla. I'm your older sister."

Corrin remained silent, but slowly her head leaned to the side, peeking out from behind Gunter's leg. Camilla's smile widened. She was making progress.

With a couple of step towards her sister, Camilla crouched down on her knees. She didn't exactly have a plan, but perhaps if she got down on Corrin's level, she'd be less... well, scary! The skirt of her black dress fanned out around her, and an idea hit her.

"I love your dress." Camilla smiled prettily, and gestured to Corrin's clothing. It wasn't as fine as the clothes that Xander or the children at Clarkenstein received. Not by any means, but nonetheless, the gray and white fabric complimented the white of the little girl's hair. And those puffy shoulders and elbows were just darling! "It's very pretty on you."

Gunter interjected at the young princess' response of silence. Chidingly, he asked, "What's the polite thing to say, Princess?"

As her grip on the guard eased, Corrin bashfully let out in the tiniest peep of a voice, "Thank you."

Camila could practically feel her own eyes light up. She'd spoken!

Excitedly, the older girl dug into the pocket in her skirt, digging around for something she'd brought along. "I brought a present for you," she told Corrin. Almost giddily, she withdrew and held out a doll.

Her blonde hair was made of real horsehair, her clothing sewn by one of the royal seamstresses. She was one of the few gifts Camilla had ever received from her father, back before he'd become so terribly cold. She'd been Camilla's most treasured possession, her closest friend in years past, but now the princess was determined not to need her anymore. She would make a real friend – her sister. And judging by the latter's shyness, she could probably use the doll (and a friend) more than Camilla.

"It's one of my dolls, see? I used to play with her all the time when I was younger, but I thought you might like to have her." Camilla watched as Corrin very slowly eased back into her sight. Her heart melted a bit more just seeing her warming up to her... "You can braid her hair and comb it, and I'm learning to sew, so I can help you make new dresses for her!"

Interest very clearly piqued in Corrin's eyes. She inspected the doll from afar with a simple sense of wonder that only a small child could have, but still, she wouldn't move forward.

Just when Camilla's heart began to sink, she heard light footsteps from behind her shoulder. She gazed upward from her spot on the stone floor, and she saw that Xander had appeared at her side. His hand was held out and he wore a gentle smile.

"May I?" he asked in a voice so quiet only Camilla could hear. His eyes gestured discreetly to the doll.

She wasn't happy to have someone else take her chance at the gift-giving honors, but she complied nonetheless. Maybe Corrin would be more comfortable around the one she knew, the one with the meeker demeanor who didn't feel he had to try so hard.

She watched as Xander eased down on his knee right near Gunter's leg. After only a slight retreat on Corrin's end, he gingerly held the doll out to her. Camilla rose back to her feet behind him to get a better look at her younger sister's reaction.

"I think she looks a bit like you, little princess," said Xander, and Corrin smiled for the first time that day. She took the doll from his hand and inspected her face, brushing over her soft hair with a gentle, curious hand. Camilla had begun to feel an inkling of disappointment, so left out on the sides, until Xander turned back around to her. "Don't you agree, Camilla?"

Well, this truly was a day for firsts, wasn't it? Seeing Xander's soft brown eyes smile at her that way, so kind and warm and nothing like her mother made him out to be, was the second first of the day – one Camilla was more than happy to experience.

"No," Camilla replied, all too glad to join in the conversation as she approached her siblings. Leaning forward with her hands on her knees, she answered, "Corrin is much more beautiful, I think!" She giggled and donned the prettiest smile she could, earning a blush and a bashful bow of the head from her little sister.

Even Sir Gunter let out an endeared 'hm' at the sight of Corrin warming up. The young girl looked up to him excitedly, clutching her doll tighter in her hands. "Can I take her to my room?" she asked with sweet, imploring eyes.

"Of course, milady," he replied, and not a moment later the girl was on her way to the stairwell.

Xander and Camilla both let out contented sighs, glad they'd managed to get _something_ out of the little one. Though just when they were about to resign themselves to the idea of spending the day independently in the fortress as the princess played in her room, she reached the stairs and turned around. Almost shyly, her eyes beckoned to her older siblings, silently asking, "Aren't you coming?"

Camilla let out a small laugh of relief. Already on her way to her sister, she called out, "I'm coming!" Xander wasn't far in tow.

As the three of them climbed the stairs to Corrin's chambers, Camilla saw the young princess stop a couple stairs ahead of her. Before Camilla could stop, she'd caught up to her, and she felt a small tug on her skirt.

Quietly, Corrin asked as she held her new doll by the hand, "Does she have a name?"

"Mhm," replied Camilla warmly. "Do you think you can guess it?"

Corrin shot a glance back to her toy, thinking her answer over carefully. Though Camilla knew there was no way she would ever guess the doll's real name: Anthea. What in the heavens had she been thinking when she'd named that doll?

"Bea!" Corrin look up proudly at her sister, an expectant look in her grin.

Well, thought Camilla, that doll was to be hers from now on. If that's the name she liked, then that was the perfect name. Anthea was no more. Anthea, Camilla's only friend, was Bea now - a new friend to a new girl, serving the far better purpose of making her little sister very happy.

"What do you know?" Camilla gasped with expert theatrics. "You got it on the first try! It must be fate that she be with you."

"You're lying!" Corrin giggled, clutching Camilla's skirt a bit tighter.

Camilla shook her head with a smile. "I'd never lie to my baby sister."

It was nice that afternoon, playing in Corrin's room with her and Xander. Camilla had been so excited to meet her sister, and yet in all her fantasies, she'd never could've imagined a child quite like this. So small, so timid, so sweet and so... rambunctious! Once the little one had gotten going, she was running around her room with her doll in her own little world. Xander and Camilla had watched her with smiles on their lips, seated side by side on the floor. The former had even, by the end of the evening, gotten in a gentle sword fight with Corrin using clothing hangers. It felt almost like a fantasy story, the perfect cliché of a happy family.

The greatest surprise of all, however, was when Camilla had managed to chase Corrin down and playfully catch her by the waist. Both of them in giggles, Camilla had managed to pull her sister down to sit in her lap as she'd hugged her and begun to toy with the pale locks of her hair. Xander had sat with a gentle smile off to the side, looking a bit out of place. Camilla, though, remembered how he'd included her earlier, and she decided to repay the favor.

With a smile and a wave, she beckoned her brother over to them and watched as he took a seat in front of them, a contented grin on his face. In that moment, Corrin reached forward to take his crown and play with it, inciting a genuine laugh from her brother. Camilla couldn't help but join in.

She found it odd. She'd only been waiting for this day to get closer to Corrin, but the familiar feeling she found near her brother was not something she expected to find. Never had she stopped to consider that he may be so kind and gentle. A bit funny, even! It was nice to see him smile and laugh. It was nice to see her brother was no arrogant prince, no conniving bearer of the crown like the women of Clarkenstein made him out to be.

It was nice to sit with her siblings, smiling in earnest for the first time in a long while, and to feel like a family. To find not one, but two people who would gladly accept all the love she could give and return it. Now, if only they could bring little Leo along, perhaps their family could grow a little bit more...

* * *

And in due time, with a bit of patience, Leo did come along.

As it so happened, the month that Leo first visited was the month the children were told there would be yet another new brother or sister joining their family. They were all growing closer, and now a new little one would be born into a family that was twice as close as the one the other royal siblings had been born into. Things were working out for the better, it seemed!

One evening, as the sun was setting low, Camilla returned to the inside of the fortress from the training grounds. She'd been training with her first _real_ axe, not those chipped practice ones. The biting cold of the outdoors was gladly left behind as she entered the stone walls, heated from within by ovens and hearths.

Xander, on the other hand, remained outside. Camilla had left him behind at the training grounds, his sword still in hand and that stubborn look she was growing to know on his face. It seemed he was trying to dedicate himself to the sword more than in the past, but his younger sister could see it would be a long road ahead.

Nonetheless, he remained diligent, leaving his sister to go back to the fortress' interior alone. Amidst the warm glow within, on a grey sofa in one of the sitting rooms, she found her younger brother. Leo was snuggled in a blanket one of them maids had brought him. His head rested on the arm of the seat, his eyes drooping shut as he tried to read his children's book in the dim light of dusk.

Camilla approached him, a tender look in her eyes to mirror the feeling in her heart. Slowly, she entered the room, carefully taking a seat next to her younger brother. Through the thick quilt around him, she rubbed his shoulder softly. Unsurprisingly, he wiggled his arm (albeit with fatigue) to shrug her away.

The older sister, however, remained unfazed, growing almost humorously used to him wriggling away from her doting hands. "What are you reading, Leo?" she asked, her voice remaining calming and gentle. With some luck, she could ease him to sleep so he could rest up a bit before the carriage back to Windmire came for them.

The young boy gripped his book a bit tighter, the physical strain evident as his brown eyes fluttered shut and open once more. "I'm reading about wyverns," he answered, his voice mumbling and quiet.

"Really?" Camilla smiled. She had no idea he was interested in wyverns too!

Camilla's biggest dream was to become a good enough axe wielder that she could have a wyvern of her very own, that she'd be picked to join the flying brigades rather than an infantry regiment when she grew older. How nice it would be to have a partner on the battlefield... And to always have a friend waiting to soar away with you at a moment's notice, whenever you wanted.

Maybe someday, if things in Clarkenstein ever got too difficult, Leo would be there with a wyvern too, ready to soar away along with her for a while.

With a proud, wistful smile, Camilla told her brother, "I'm going to be a wyvern rider someday, you know. Do you want to be one too?"

"Maybe."

She could barely understand his answer over the drowsiness in his voice. With a quiet chuckle, she pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders and tried to edge the book out of his hands.

"Why don't you sleep, Leo?" she cooed. "We still have some time before we have to leave."

"No. I can stay awake," he answered obstinately, though the way he sluggishly pulled his book back from Camilla said otherwise.

With a fond sense of realization, Camilla saw a glimpse of just how like his older brother little Leo could be. Looks aside, even his quiet will and stubbornness were starting to prove similar between the two brothers despite the six year age difference. Granted, it had taken longer for it to show up in Xander... Perhaps because he'd never had an older sibling to look up to the way the Leo was starting to look up to him.

"Did you know wyverns can go twenty-one hours without sleeping?" Leo whispered, his eyes already falling shut.

Though gods knew little Leo had enough going for him on his own.

"No, I did not," answered Camilla with amusement. She glanced at the cover of his wyvern book, realizing he must've found it in the library while she and Xander had been training. Where on earth had he learned to read like that in so little time? She was a good four years older than him, and even _she_ couldn't stomach such books during her lessons.

The future of her family was certainly looking curious, with what she suspected would be a genius of a younger brother in the mix now. Just eight months ago, Camilla's only friend had been her old doll. Then came Xander and Corrin. Now Leo was with them as well, and a younger brother or sister was on the way. The future was brighter, that was for certain, and her spirits were high.

With a smile, she thought of the twenty one hours a day she could spend with the wyvern she hoped would join her one day as well. She stroked her younger brother's arm as he appeared on the brink of slumber, and she teased, "But you're not a wyvern, silly."

In that moment, a servant entered the sitting room with a gentle knock on the doorframe. Camilla brought her attention to the stout man as he nodded to her and the young prince.

"Lady Camilla, the coachman will be here shortly," he informed her politely.

Ah, and there the news came, expected and inevitable, but nonetheless a disappointment. It was that time. The sun had set, the maids were lighting the candles in the sconces and on the tables. The place settings from dinnertime were likely being cleaned in the kitchens on the ground floor, and above, the youngest princess would be getting ready to go to bed as the other royal children headed home to their own beds. If only they could stay...

Camilla nonetheless thanked the messenger politely before her exited the room. She'd have to head up the tower to tell her sister goodbye before they left.

She looked to Leo next to her, his breathing deepening and his eyes now shut completely. She was almost scared to move for fear of waking him. However, when she stood, she didn't make it two steps away from the sofa before her younger brother mumbled from behind her, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to tuck Corrin in," she whispered, doubting he was actually awake at this point. "Do you want to come with me?"

A barely audible "mm-mm" came from the little prince as his head nestled further into the arm of the plush, grey sofa. His book still rested in his hands, his quilt draped loosely around his shoulders. Camilla let him have his rest, choosing to forego planting a kiss on his forehead, and tiptoed out of the room. With the go-ahead from a friendly guard at the base of the stairwell to Corrin's room, she began the ascension to her little sister's bedside.

When at last she reached the oaken door – an athletic feat in itself – she gave it a quiet knock before easing it open.

"Corrin," she called gently. Within the dimly lit bedroom, her little sister looked up from her vanity, finishing tying her pale white hair in a braid for bed. "We have to leave soon."

The young princess' face sank, her eyes filling with disappointment. As the wooden door fell shut behind her older sister's back, she ran towards her. "Do you have to go?" she moaned, and it broke a piece of Camilla's heart right off.

"I'm afraid so..." the elder sister answered, sinking to her knees and wrapping her baby sister in a warm embrace. "But we'll be back before you know it."

Ever since the excitement of first meeting Corrin began to wear off, a feeling of... melancholy had begun to fill Camilla's heart, worsening with each night she had to separate herself from her precious sister. Each time, she wanted more and more to take her back to Windmire with her and their brothers. Each time, she saw a bit more of the sadness in the little girl's eyes when she – along with Camilla – realized she'd be on her own once more.

But alas, she remained here on Father's orders. For her health. Camilla had to remind herself of that each evening when the setting sun signaled the end of their visit, its color reflecting that of her sister's pleading eyes, begging her to stay. She had to remind herself that Corrin remained behind for her safety and health. Without the spell around the Northern Fortress, she was too weak, and Camilla would hate for anything to happen to her.

All she could do was try to make her sister's stay in the fortress more enjoyable and the goodbyes less painful.

"Do you want me to sing you to sleep?"

Corrin smiled weakly and nodded, crawled into her covers on her bed and allowing Camilla to sit next to her. The elder sister curled up her knees and beckoned for Corrin to lay her head in her lap, as they so often did at bedtime. With gentle hands, Camilla began to stroke Corrin's forehead as she sang in hushed but sweet tones. Every so often, she'd run her fingers over the young girl's eyebrows – a gesture which always, without fail, set her breathing low and steady and soothed her to sleep.

As she cradled her sleeping sister, Camilla's eyes drifted out the windows. The dark outlines of the mountains, barren and imposing, took over the night sky. What a dreary view...

Someday, Camilla thought, she would take Corrin from this fortress and show her some place brighter. She'd show her meadows and seas, cities and stores where they could go shopping. She would take her to the capital and show her all the stands set up to celebrate the turning of the seasons at summer's end, and they could play games together. Just imagine the smile on Corrin's face when she would get to eat one of the warm soups they served in loaves of bread, or when she'd win a teddy bear by throwing a few balls and knocking down a whole stack of bottles (with some help from her older siblings, of course).

Camilla herself had only been to the autumn festival once with her nursemaid, but she'd had such fun. It was one of the few big excursions she'd ever taken when she was very little, the others being stuffy royal outings. Well, with the exception of one.

She'd not been more than five years old. Her father had taken all of the children on an outing together. She, Xander, Marcus, even one-year-old Leo, baby Clarissa, and... her stepsister... Azusa? Azuria? Azura? Regrettably, Camilla could barely remember her face anymore, let alone her name. It felt like so long ago that their father had taken them and their nursemaids to a meadow just outside Windmire. It had been full of flowers, like a canvas of vibrant colors under a crystal blue sky. To her little eyes, that big field had looked endless...

She remembered that day so fondly that it brought a glow to her heart. To remember Father rubbing her hair, even riding on his shoulders at some point... This was one of the few good memories she had of her younger years, no matter how strange she felt around her siblings. No matter how bittersweet it felt now, thinking that the father whose lap she'd sat on was the selfsame man responsible for locking Corrin away, good intentions or no.

Her hand still stroking Corrin's head, she remained lost in her daydreams and memories as she repeated her lullaby over and over. " _O little princess, hold my hand. I am beside you, like waves on the sand. Our little princess, sleep and dream of your land, your glorious land..."_

Lost in thought, the eldest princess sang until her brothers came to bid their goodbyes before the three of them went back to the capital.

The three of them, but not Corrin.

* * *

The sisters' absence from one another did have the benefit of keeping Corrin and Camilla from finding themselves at odds, as so many sisters often did. Absence truly did make the heart grow fonder. The visits every few days hardly gave the sisters enough time to build tension and butt heads. Camilla could count the instances where she and Corrin had been genuinely angry at each other on one hand – on two fingers, in fact.

The first was when Corrin was ten.

Corrin had, with the allowance of her father, found a new playmate. He was the son of a noble family, the patriarch of which being a former officer who'd served in the cavalry under Sir Gunter's command. His son was the same age as Corrin, a reserved and respectful boy of noble birth – in other words, the perfect first companion for a sheltered princess.

Camilla knew without a doubt how much trust it had taken her father to allow another person into Corrin's part of the fortress; access was usually limited to family members and staff. Though he was finally, _finally_ beginning to loosen the strict grip he held her under. No matter how frail she was, keeping her in such an imprisoned state would do naught but make things worse.

The poor girl had been isolated for so long... In ten years, she'd never had a true friend of her own like this. Camilla's heart ached for her sister, partially in empathy.

Camilla did have her family to keep her company now, filling the role of her friends. Since the passing of her and Leo's mothers and Elise's mother falling ill, the children were now spending more and more time together in Castle Krakenburg. Clarkenstein was simply too empty now.

Outside of her brothers and sisters, though, it seemed not many people were interested in her friendship. The other girls at court were amicable on the surface, sure, but she heard how they spoke of her when they thought she couldn't hear. _Jealousy,_ she'd tell herself, but it still hurt a bit. The eyes Camilla was beginning to draw from the boys with her quicker... _maturing features_ was certainly doing nothing to help matters.

But her family was enough for her. She had them by her side more often, now, where she could find them when she wished – track down Xander when he wasn't in another war meeting with Father, visit Leo in the libraries and watch him read, play with little Elise when she was actually sitting still.

These, however, were all luxuries that Corrin didn't have. Her family wasn't always by her side, and only a couple of the servants were even within her age group. Camilla knew how it could hurt not to have anyone around, so she hoped with all her heart that this new playmate would work out for her.

With that thought in mind, on Corrin's fourth play date with this friend, a stroke of genius came to Camilla. She desperately wanted to do something nice for her sister to boost the playmates' friendship. Just a little something to bring them together and break the ice a bit more...

"Silas," she asked the young playmate one day as he waited in the sitting room. The poor boy was still so shy, sitting alone on one of the sofas as he awaited the end of Corrin's training session with her older brother. He sat alone, twiddling his thumbs and keeping quiet. Perhaps Camilla could bring him out of his shell a bit. "You enjoy cookies, don't you?"

The boy's green eyes blinked, briefly meeting Camilla's before he blushed and looked away. Even with so little attention, he was nervous. "Um.. yes, ma'am," he answered timidly.

Camilla chuckled kindly. "No need for formalities, darling," she told him, trying to ease his nerves. He smiled politely, but still opted to stare out the windows and watch Corrin and Xander crossing blades – a sight which, on that particular day, was not a pretty one to see. Grunts of pain and frustration flooded through the glass panes as Corrin was repeatedly pushed back and struck to the ground by her brother's sword.

"Corrin should be done with her lesson in about an hour," Camilla informed Silas. "I thought about making some cookies for the two of you. Why don't you come help me in the kitchen?"

Silas nodded quietly, reluctantly standing from the sofa and tearing his eyes away from the windows. Camilla held out a hand to him to guide him downstairs, which he took with a crimson face.

And so it was that the two wound up in the kitchens baking a fresh batch of cookies. Or rather, Camilla baked while Silas stood quietly around and helped when asked. The princess did all in her power to draw him to activity.

"Dominic," she'd addressed the head cook once. He stood watch over the two children and helped them find all they needed, and he meanwhile saw to it that his precious realm didn't get too messy. "Would you please hand Silas the flour?"

The cook had willingly obliged, digging a sack of flour out of a cupboard as Camilla stood at the counter stirring ingredients in a bowl. Silas accepted the bag and held tight and careful at Dominic's request, further encouraged to do so by the latter's flinching as a bit of white powder fell to the floor.

"Silas, would you please hand me the flour?"

She could have done it all herself with a bit of help from Dominic – and she could probably have spared the man a gray hair or two by making less of a mess that way. But that wasn't what this was about. She wanted Silas to feel at home in their part of the fortress, like he belonged with them – with Corrin. The last thing she wanted was for him to run home to his father and beg to never come back to the fortress, leaving Corrin alone.

The Northern Fortress was a great place of refuge for anyone who wanted it to be: a place for the young butler to find a loving family (such a tragic story he had), for the stable girl who they'd healed up and housed, for the concubine's little daughter whose ill mother was making Clarkenstein a cold hell... The only person for whom it was the exact opposite, a prison, was her younger sister.

Which was precisely why Camilla needed to make sure to do anything in her power to keep Corrin happy.

After thirty or so minutes more, the two had a rather passable plate of cookies before them. Silas had grown a bit more confident as the time passed, breaking out of his shell just a bit as he stood at Camilla's side, admiring their work.

"There!" Camilla sighed happily. She took a cookie, warm and fragrant into her hand. The sweet smell of chocolate reached her nose. Positively intoxicating! "I think these look pretty delicious, don't you?"

"Yes," replied Silas, still in a quiet voice but at least smiling now. "I hope Corrin will enjoy them."

"Me too!"

Fifteen minutes remained in Corrin's lesson, in which time the two children decided to share some of the cookies with the staff. To horde them would be rude! They gave some to the guards, some to the maids, even one to Dominic, who gave the batch his stamp of approval.

By the end of their round through the fortress, the pile on the plate was halved. However, as Camilla set it down in the sitting room to wait on Corrin, she figured there would still be plenty left for her sister and Silas as they played together.

Very proud of their achievement, Camilla raved to Silas, "I think Flora and Felicia really enjoyed them!"

"Esme said they tasted just like her mother's," the young boy beamed back shyly.

Before the princess could express her joy over the compliment, a third voice joined the mix. This one, however, was not nearly so calm. From behind them, the panicked voice of her little brother reached them both as he bounded towards them.

"Camilla!" called Leo as his slippers hit the stone floors. Camilla ushered Silas back into the sitting room with the cookies as she awaited her brother with open arms. "Camilla, have you seen my Thunder tome?"

As Leo reached her arms, she placed her hands on his shoulders. He quickly wiggled out of them as she asked why he needed it at all. His magic tutor was back in Windmire, so she knew he had no lessons that day to prompt such urgency.

"I want to practice!" he declared. "How am I supposed to cast anything without my tome?"

Camilla let out a chuckle. _Always the perfectionist._ He'd only begun training a year before, and already he was proving to be incurably dedicated – or simply competitive. _Xander had best count himself lucky Leo dropped the sword and took magic instead. Otherwise, he'd have a run for his money._

"You checked your bag, didn't you?"

"It's the only place I could've put it," Leo replied, his sense of sarcasm already strong for a nine year old. "It's not there."

The sound of a door opening drew Camilla's attention away. From the foyer, the voices of Xander and Corrin reached her ears, placing a sense of urgency in her chest. She wanted to be there to greet them! She wanted to see the look on Corrin's face when she saw the sweet treats waiting on her.

Hurriedly replying to her brother, she said rather scatterbrained, "I'm sure you must've forgotten to bring it, darling. Or check with Elise! You know how she loves to toddle off with things." Mentally already somewhere else, she distractedly assured him, "I'm sure you'll find it."

With a pat on her little brother's head, she was off, making her way towards Silas and Corrin. Behind her, she faintly heard Leo mutter, "Thanks for nothing." A pang of regret hit her, but she knew how Leo was. Help only seemed to slow him down, if not annoy him entirely! The last thing she wanted was to smother the independence he had with coddling. He would be alright.

Camilla made it back to the sitting room just in time, Xander and Corrin still out in the hallway. However, when she entered the room, she was shocked to see Silas looking not excited, but rather distressed.

He sat with worried eyes behind a totally empty cookie plate.

"The cookies are gone?!" Camilla exclaimed, her face falling. She rushed over and examined the empty plate, as though she expect the missing cookies to reappear out of thin air. However, only loose crumbs remained as evidence that the treats ever existed. "What happened?"

"So many people came back for seconds," Silas whimpered, shrinking in his seat. His face turned remarkably red. "I only turned around for a second to- but-..." He sputtered nervously until falling silent, the situation evidently having become too much for him.

"Oh, no. Oh _no!_ What now?" Camilla worried, glancing anxiously at the entryway as she waited for her younger sister to enter the room. "Corrin will be so upset..."

And as if on queue, through the open entry to the sitting room entered Corrin, Xander at her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll get better, little princess," he assured her. His voice had deepened since they were children and sounded much better suited to authority now. His softer tones, however, may have been of more use with the now very pouty-looking Corrin, who angrily tossed her wooden sword to the side as she took her wrist guards off for the day. "Don't let yourself get discouraged."

"Of course not," she replied coldly, sarcasm resting under the surface. Xander looked a bit off put by her tone, but opted to let it slide. "Hi, Silas."

"Hi, Corrin," the young boy peeped from the table. Corrin made her way over to him, Camilla standing nervously behind his shoulder. She was about to take a seat next to her friend when she looked up and saw the white plate resting on the table before her, doily-lined and completely empty.

"Were there cookies?" she asked, disappointment seeping gradually into her voice.

"Silas and I made some for you, darling," Camilla told her, trying to keep a soothing voice in her tone. "But the staff seemed to like them so much that once we shared them, they were all gone. I'm sorry."

Corrin's face remained still for a fraction of a second. Camilla waited anxiously for some sort of reply, but after a moment's thought, she realized she couldn't really have too much to worry about. This was Corrin, after all! Her sweet Corrin, always considerate and careful not to hurt anyone's-

"You could've set one aside for me!"

Camilla jumped back, her eyes widening. Well, _this_ was certainly unexpected...

"I'm sorry, darling, I-" the older sister stammered, thrown off by the sudden twist. It seemed she'd given her sister too much credit too soon.

"I spent three hours outside messing _everything_ up, and meanwhile you let all the good things happening inside go to _waste_!"

Xander jumped in as her voice grew louder. "Corrin!" he warned her sternly.

His scolding tone, however, went ignored as Corrin continued to spew anger. "Thanks a lot, my so-called sister!"

And with those few words, thirteen years worth of living in a family held together by threads crashed into Camilla, harder than she thought her sister probably wanted them to.

With the difference in mothers who had constantly been at war with one another and the harsh, cold treatment from their father, Camilla had never quite felt like part of a true family growing up. From the very day she'd desperately tried to forge a bond with Corrin to the years following, in which she'd gotten to know Xander and Leo and in which Elise had been born, she had always felt she had to work in overdrive to hold onto her siblings.

She noticed how much her mother wanted her to hate Leo, how little Elise received the least royal treatment of all of them after Garon's long line of bastard children, Camilla herself included. She noticed how Xander had a different status from the rest of them, having been Queen Katarina's son.

It was all too easy to feel separate from her family, so she had to make sure they stayed close. She couldn't let their family fall apart, not after she'd grown to love them all so much.

For Corrin to say something like that... An echo of Leo's very same words - "Thanks a lot" - ran through Camilla's mind. She'd... failed. Corrin's words and Leo's too may have been in reference to small and childish things, but they spoke of real feelings. She'd failed them both by not being a good enough older sister.

"Corrin!" Xander yelled once more, bringing Camilla back to reality, and time started up once more. "You can't talk to your sister that way!"

"So what?" Corrin shouted back. Poor Silas was cowering back in his chair at all the yelling. "She doesn't care anyway! I could probably run away into the wilderness and she'd _forget_ I even existed!"

Before Xander could scold his younger sister again, Camilla did something none of them expected. In a desperate act, she knelt down on her knees and pulled Corrin into the tightest hug she could. As a tear or two began to roll down her face, she snuggled her head as fiercely as she could into her little sister's shoulder.

"Let go!" Corrin struggled, but Camilla wouldn't. Not when her sister thought she meant nothing. She'd vowed never to let Corrin feel the pain of loneliness or the pain of being worthless. Not from any side, and especially not when thinking about her older sister.

"I love you _so_ much," Camilla whispered gently into her sister's ear. "I know you're angry with me, and I'm sorry. But I promise I won't ever again let you forget that I love you. I love you as the moon loves the night sky. I always will, no matter what."

Corrin stayed rigid a moment, her lips quivering before letting out all the frustration of the day and hugging her sister back. "I'm sorry," she murmured into Camilla's hair. Her back shook with tiny sobs as her older sister stroked her shoulders.

For a long, calming moment they stayed that way. Camilla breathed a soothing " _shhh"_ here and there as Corrin unleashed all her frustration as tears. Eventually, Camilla pulled back and dried her sister's tears with a gentle smile.

"How about I make you another batch of cookies, hm?" she asked gently. "Just for you and Silas."

Corrin hesitated a moment before requesting Camilla make some for herself as well. And Xander. And Leo and Elise as well! And for Flora and Felicia and Cecil and Mirella and Lilith and Jakob and Senta and...

Camilla smiled and agreed, never having expected her sister to be anything less than considerate. It seemed she'd returned to herself again. With a pat on the head, she sent Corrin off on her playdate with Silas as she and Xander left the room.

As soon as the two younger children had left earshot, Xander spoke up in a low voice. "She's just frustrated," he told her, his voice muted but reassuring. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she said."

"No, I know," Camilla replied with half a smile, sadness still in her voice. "But she still said it, which means she thought it. And what kind of big sister would I be if I let her believe it even for an instant?"

Xander let out a chuckle as Camilla's demeanor brightened a bit at the sound.

"She's lucky to have you," he told her. After a moment of hesitation – he'd been growing up, growing more mature, and more _distant_ – he placed his hand on Camilla's shoulder. "I have some more training to do. Care to join me?"

"No, thank you." Camilla replied politely, her bad mood having melted away. Having his support was always the biggest comfort. "I have another batch of cookies to make. Care to join _me?"_

* * *

The second time anger had found itself between the sisters was about a year and a half later, in the damp, mild weather of summer.

Camilla and her siblings had, on account of their father being called to an impromptu private council meeting, found themselves brought to the Northern Fortress to be watched over and to spend time with their sister.

Upon their arrival, however, they found – to their horror – that their sister wasn't there.

"What happened?" Xander yelled at one of the guards. Now, truly any sign of the shy boy he'd been was out the window. At just sixteen, his presence could bring anyone to panic if he wished – a situation which seldom happened outside of his angriest moments. "How could she have gotten out?"

"I- I-" The guard stuttered, sweat beading at his forehead. "She was with that boy, th-that friend of hers. She must've sneaked off, my lord."

Camilla could feel dread rising in her gut. Corrin was frail! She couldn't handle herself in the wilderness. She couldn't navigate or protect herself! Gods above, what if there were beasts out there? She could...

She took a step forward and took Xander worriedly by the forearm,her lungs tightening in fear. "What if she's hurt?" she voiced her concern, her own anger rising as well. "What if she's lost? She could be anywhere!"

Elise whimpered from behind her siblings. Nervously, she grabbed onto Leo's leg, frightened by all the shouting.

"I- I'm sorry, milady," the guard sputtered. "We have our whole force out in search of her."

"The whole force but one," Leo piped up from the back, his eyes staring accusingly into those of the guard. Gods bless him and that sharp tongue.

Three of the four siblings speaking against him, the guard became even more panicked than before. His face twisted, wracked with nervousness under the pressure and looking as though he'd been caught stealing. "I was- I was instructed to stay and wait for your arrival."

"Well, we've arrived," Camilla let out in a low voice, letting go of Xander and honing in on the the guard's face. She knew she could scare and intimidate if she wanted to. It was time to use that to her advantage. "You're free to go help clean up the mess you've made now!"

"W- With all due respect, my lady," he managed to speak, mustering up all his courage in his own defense. "It's not my job to watch the young lady's every m-move."

"But it _is_ your job to guard the doors! That means keeping her _in_ as well as enemies out!" She retorted, her voice rising with the anger and fear in her blood. "She's of poor health! Anything could happen to her out there!"

"I-" the guard stuttered once more. However, he realized a futile battle well enough, and surrendered with a calming breath. Regaining his composure, he managed a shaky nod of his head. "I'll be on my way right now."

"A lovely idea."

The four siblings watched as the man rushed down the road to his horse and galloped away into the nearby mountains. When he was out of sight, Xander finally spoke again.

"I'm going too," he said, resolve settling on his face. Already he was making to cut across the grass towards the stables on the other end of the grounds.

Camilla replied, "Me too." She had left her wyvern at home, but surely any other in the stables could substitute for her. It'd have to be far easier to find her sister from up in the sky!

"No, Camilla," Xander told her calmly, halting in his tracks. "You're needed here. Watch over Leo and Elise."

The princess opened her mouth to protest, but her brother cut her off before she ever got the chance. He ran towards the stables, calling over his shoulder, "I'll be back!" And as his figure grew ever smaller before disappearing around the fortress' corner, Camilla had no choice but to comply.

He hadn't so much as listened to her argument. Leo and Elise could've been safe in the fortress with the staff! She could have gotten a wyvern from the stables, fetched an axe from the storage to help fight any beasts she encountered. She'd been training on the axe since she was seven years old; she could handle herself! She could help search for Corrin just as well as her brother could!

But – as much as it pained her to dig this thought out of the clouds of desperation in her mind – another part of her training was learning where she was needed most, and when she turned and saw the worried tears in Elise's eyes and the concern all over Leo's face, she received her answer. Her other siblings needed her too, and it wouldn't do to leave them on their own.

Resigning herself, she approached little Elise and scooped her up to hold her with one arm. Her other hand found its way to Leo's shoulder as she ushered him inside.

"Come, you two," she said distractedly as the wooden front door cracked open. The sound of a horse's urgent hooves echoed in the distance. "Xander will take care of everything. Let's go wait inside."

That served to their reassurance as much as her own. Before she closed the door, she shot a worried glance at the mountains, and she sent a silent prayer that her baby sister would be found okay.

Not ten minutes later, after fielding the staff's flurry of questions regarding Xander's whereabouts, Camilla found herself seated on the cold, stone floor of the castle foyer. Her knees pulled to her chest, she waiting on edge for any sound on the door's other side.

 _She'll be okay_ , she silently chanted to herself, over and over.

 _She has to be okay._

 _Please, I need her to be okay._

"Camilla?"

Snapped out of her inner mantra, Camilla looked up from the ground to see Leo standing above her.

"I want to go look for Corrin too."

Fear reignited in her stomach. Enough of her siblings' lives were on the line at the moment, and there was no way she would send nine-year-old little Leo out on his own as well. With a sigh, Camilla simply replied, "No, Leo."

"Why not?" he asked, clearly trying not to sound whiny like a child. However, the facade of maturity only made the childish effect stronger.

"Because," replied Camilla, resettling her head onto her knees. "It's too dangerous. You don't know your way around the mountains."

"Neither does Xander."

"There are bandits and monsters out there. You're not strong enough to fight them off."

"Yes, I am!" Leo's voice raised.

"Leo, please." Camilla remained sullen, keeping her composure with him. Holding her patience was becoming harder, though.

"No!"

Camilla found herself honestly shocked. Leo almost never spoke above a murmur, let alone ever shout at anyone.

"She's my sister too! Why does Xander get to do everything? Why is he the only one who gets to go look for her? I can fight too, Camilla! You promised at my birthday that you'd stop treating me like such a baby! I can go too!"

Camilla let out a small sigh, her heart aching at her poor brother's outburst. "Leo..." she began to explain. "I wanted to go too. If I'd been allowed to, I'd have soared off on a wyvern, and I wouldn't have come back 'til I knew Corrin was safe."

The very thought that her baby sister was out there somewhere, in the dark forest at dusk, scared, alone... It shook her to her very core. It killed her to sit in the fortress rather than run to her sister, to give her someone whose arms she could run into.

"But I needed to be here to watch over you and Elise," she continued gently. Calling forth the sentiment that had hit her before Xander had ridden away, she repeated it to Leo: "Part of being an adult means that you sometimes need to ignore what you want and do what you know is best.

"I know it's hard, but letting the others do their job is what's best. Xander would worry himself sick if you or I went missing as well." She watched as her younger brother's eyes looked away, defeated but clearly not wanting to admit it. She reached forward and grabbed his hand gently. For once, he didn't pull away. "You're growing up so fast, Leo. Will you stay here and try to be an adult with me? I think I might need some help, too... doing what I know is best."

His hand, small and uncalloused in contrast to her own, squeezed a bit tighter. His eyes flitted disappointedly to the floor, then back to his sister.

"Yes," he replied quietly. He didn't sit down next to Camilla yet, though. "Should I get Elise?"

"Yes, why don't you," Camilla replied with a small smile, releasing his hand. "You can help me protect her. We'll all three wait together."

Leo nodded and ran off to fetch his little sister, leaving Camilla alone again in the hall. She head resumed its position on her knees, her feet resting on the edge of the red carpet that covered the main hallway. When Leo returned with Elise, the former holding the latter's hand (she thought it nice how well he was growing into the big brother role, seeing some of Xander in Corrin in the both of them), they sat side by side, snuggling Elise in the middle.

" _O little princess, hold my hand..."_ Camilla sang a lullaby until Elise's mess of golden curls landed on her brother's shoulder, and she fell asleep. " _...your glorious land. The Nohrian moon guides you through your homeland, to those who cherish you. Little princess,..."_

Camilla bit back tears, and they waited.

It took another half hour or so before Camilla heard any noise from outside.

Shouting... It roused both Leo and Elise from their sleep. Camilla's head whipped to the door before she shot to her feet and charged towards the doorknob.

"Corrin?" she called anxiously as she yanked the door open. Though in that moment, her eyes were met with a scene she never would've expected.

Her little sister, her face and clothing covered in dirt, stood screaming outside a circle of fortress guards. One knight held her back by the arms as teas streamed down her face, and she struggled against him as the other knights surrounded another struggling child... Silas.

"Leave him alone!" Corrin wailed, desperately pulling against the knight's hands in vain. "Please, it wasn't his fault!"

The knights continued to swarm Silas, binding his hands behind his back. One man readied a spear, and it became clear what they were planning to do to the young boy.

"STOOOOP!"

"Corrin?" Camilla called out. She was too filled with relief to see her sister alright to worry too much about tact. However, the sound of her voice seemed to do the trick in stopping the knights around Silas, as everyone's eyes turned to face her.

"Camilla!" called Corrin desperately, her voice shaking with sobs. "Help! Make them stop!"

"Princess Camilla," one of the guards jumped in, his voice charged from the action around him. "This boy attempted to kidnap the princess and lead her into the wilderness."

"He wasn't kidnapping me! I wanted to go!" Corrin's voice mixed with the knight, who still presented his argument.

"She could've been killed!"

"Let him go!"

Camilla used her presence once more to command the army to silence with a single word.

"Silas," she began, and all were silent, awaiting her verdict. She approached the boy, his gray eyes – shy and frightened as ever – met her own.

Was this really the same boy who'd always visited their fortress? Who'd been a strict adherer to the rules, so neat in the kitchens, so kind in helping bake cookies? Was this really the boy she'd trusted and believed to be her sister's great hope for friendship?

Yes, undoubtedly so. But he was also the boy who'd put her life in danger. _He_ was the one who'd helped lead her away. _He_ was the cause of their worries, so thoughtless, reckless, _selfish!_ Corrin was in this fortress because she wasn't yet strong enough to survive outside its magic. He'd known that, and still he'd thought to follow his childish whims and take her away!

But again, those little gray eyes met her own, and she was reminded of his friendship with Corrin – how he'd played with her, made her smile. It was for this reason and this reason alone that she saved him from the wrath of the guards.

"Go home," she commanded him.

A stunned silence followed. Not a movement, and not a word.

Her voice rose. "Get up, and _go home_." Her head glanced away from Silas and her eyes flitted around the mass of knights. "You all are dismissed."

Slowly and hesitantly, the armored men shifted and began to back away. The man with the spear, who'd been ready to execute Silas, lowered his weapon. Silas himself, however, still sat still, hands bound and words on the tip of his tongue that he wouldn't spit out.

"Must I repeat myself? _Leave!_ "

This seemed to finally shock the boy out of whatever spell held him. Scrambling to his feet, he shot one last guilty glance at the steeled face of Camilla before running towards the gates.

How he got home didn't matter one bit to Camilla. Her mind was too clouded with too many conflicting emotions to spare it any thought before she turned to her sister.

She took Corrin by the hand and began to lead her inside. The young girl tried to protest, but she was quickly silenced by her older sister. Leo and Elise – who, it seemed, had followed Camilla outside when she'd bolted for the door – followed them back into the house, but Camilla quickly made for the room adjoined to the foyer with Corrin in tow. Before Leo and Elise could follow, she slammed the door in their faces.

The sound echoed through the halls and through the small room – a simple area for displaying ornaments, with a small sofa in the corner. Camilla's chest was shaking as she tried to breath steadily. She was beyond relieved that Corrin was alright, and yet so beyond angry that she'd done something so reckless. She was, most of all, beyond frightened that she'd almost lost arguably the most precious thing in the world to her.

Corrin clenched the hem of her skirt nervously in her hands, her eyes already tearing up as Camilla whipped around to face her. A dim glow from a chandelier was the only light in the room, highlighting the emotion that had decided to manifest in the elder sister: fury.

"Do you have _any idea_ what you've put us through tonight?" Camilla began, her voice seething with a quiet anger like Corrin had never heard.

"Camilla..." the ten-year-old's voice quivered like that of a child half her age.

"To come here and find out that you were gone? _Missing?!_ Xander nearly ripped the head off one of the guards before going out into those mountains _himself_ looking for you! Your siblings and I have been _sick_ with worry, sitting and waiting by the doors for hours waiting to hear if someone had found you! If you were even alive!"

"I'm sorry..." Corrin whined quietly, tears springing to her eyes as she wrung the edge of her ripped dress.

"Do you know what could've happened to you Corrin?!" Camilla yelled. "Do you remember why you're here? Why Father hired two of the best healers in the _world_ to watch over you?"

Corrin stood in fear of her sister, never having heard her yell like this, much less at her.

"Answer me!"

"Yes!"

"Well, you certainly didn't act like it! Your health isn't good enough to leave the fortress, Corrin. You _know_ that. You know that and yet you still left! Into a strange area that neither you nor Silas know! What if you had gotten hurt, hm? Would Silas have known what to do if you'd had an attack or fainted or-..." Camilla slowly ran out of words, but her anger was still very much present. "Did you even think for a _second_ about what you were doing!?"

"I tried to, but... But..." Corrin's face was pinching up as she was about to start sobbing, but she still tried to hold it in.

"But _WHAT?_ "

"I just wanted to leave!" Corrin finally yelled back. Tears had begun to fall from her eyes, but she seemed to have found her voice again. "I hate being stuck in here all the time! I hate it! I just wanted to go outside once."

And in an instant, everything became clearer. Everything made more sense.

Camilla had known her little sister was lonely and probably unhappy. She remembered all the places she dreamed to take her to get her away from this place, but she'd never heard a complaint from Corrin's lips.

"I'm _not_ weak anymore! I can do it!" Corrin insisted. "We wouldn't have even gotten lost if Silas' map hadn't fallen in the mud and-"

"Corrin-"

"I don't wanna stay here anymore, Camilla." Corrin was fully sobbing now, breaking her sister's heart at the sight. She hadn't seen her cry like this in many years, and now that she was older it seemed to carry so much more weight, like her pain was more real. "I wanna go back to the castle with you and Xander and Leo and Elise! I can do it! I know Father thinks I can't, but I can! I'm strong enough now! I _can!_ "

She ended with a heaving sob as her breath shuddered and Camilla finally fell into old habits, wrapping her arms around her sister's shoulders. Her anger was fading as she finally began to understand why Corrin had run off. The feeling was replaced by... sadness, and she allowed her sister to drown her tears into a mass of lavender hair.

"I know, darling. I know..." she whispered gently. She still felt the lingering effects of her worry-induced anger in her stomach. Her sister's back heaved as she cried harder, and Camilla stroked her hair gently as she let it out.

"I know you're unhappy here, Corrin," began Camilla, her voice unusually calm and mature, refraining from using diminutives. "But we keep you here to keep you safe. We don't want anything in this world to harm you."

Though even she could see the only thing harming her was the prison she was being kept in.

Why could Father not simply let her leave?

"Could-" Corrin began with a sniffle, pushing back against Camilla's shoulders to look her in the eyes. Those little rubies of hers were flooded with tears, the red color bringing out the bloodshot whites of her eyes. "Could you all come to live here?"

"I wish we could," she said, stroking Corrin's cheek. Father's orders were final until revoked, and as much as she wished to challenge them, it wasn't her place. That much she knew.

This answer only spawned a renewed stream of tears in Corrin's eyes as she squirmed and lightly stamped her foot. "It's not fair!" she whined. Now avoiding contact with her sister's eyes, she said quieter, "I don't want to be alone anymore."

Camilla felt a piece of her heart shatter in that moment. Suddenly, she felt like crying herself. What had all those promises of hers been good for – to keep Corrin from ever feeling the pain of isolation or helplessness? She knew that pain, and she wouldn't wish it on anyone. To know her sister was experiencing it, and most likely worse that Camilla herself had ever known, filled her with such helplessness. Was there nothing she could do?

But she did remember a vow she'd made five months prior – a promise she _could_ keep, and would see that she kept at any cost: she would never, ever let her sister forget that her love for her was endless. No matter how alone Corrin felt, Camilla had to make sure to let her know how much she meant to her, that she was there for her.

Pulling her tightly into a hug, Camilla asked her, "Do you remember what I promised you that day you got angry over the cookies?"

Corrin answered slowly, her voice muffled as her face pressed into her sister's shoulder. "That... That you love me?"

"Mm-hm. 'Like the moon loves the night sky', remember? You're a part of me, of my heart, and I'm always a part of yours. I'll always be with you, Corrin, even when you're lonely. And when you feel sad or scared or alone just call on that part of you, and let it tell you that I love you. I will _always_ love you, my sweet little sister, and so will Xander and Leo and Elise."

"I love you too, Camilla," said Corrin, hugging her sister tighter as she burrowed her head into Camilla's neck.

There they stayed for a good, long moment, holding tight to one another and letting their tears dry.

After they'd separated, Corrin asked timidly, "So you aren't mad at me?"

Camilla chuckled. "I'm not pleased that you worried me into a rage," she half-joked. "But right now, no. I'm not angry anymore. I'm just glad you're alright, darling."

"Are you mad at Silas?"

The elder princess paused, the boy having taken a spot on the back burner in her mind. She wasn't quite furious with him anymore (and she should probably send a carriage after him to at least make sure he made it home alive by morning...), but she wasn't happy either. Taking her sister out of the castle when he knew it wasn't safe for her... She knew his intentions were probably pure, wanting only to allow Corrin a taste of life outside, but it had been far too dangerous. He should've known that.

Apparently she sat still for too long, because Corrin jumped fearfully to his defense. "Please don't be mad at Silas! It wasn't all his fault."

"It's not up to me to-" Camilla tried to reply, wanting to say it was irrelevant whether or not she was mad as it wasn't up to her to decide on what his punishment would be, but Corrin interrupted her.

"He said we didn't have to go if I didn't want to! He _said,_ and I told him I wanted to go!" Corrin insisted. "Please don't get Silas in trouble!"

Camilla didn't want to make any promises she couldn't keep... Deep down she knew that their father would be furious about the ordeal, and she doubted he would allow the boy who played a part in it any leniency. In honesty, she highly doubted he would allow Corrin to see him again, period. But all she wanted now was to put all the negativity behind them for the night. She wanted to see her sister happy for the day, if only for a moment.

"I'll talk to Father and see what I can do."

Before Corrin could thank her, they heard a soft bang at the main door to the castle.

"Corrin!" a very recognizable voice called out. It seemed Xander had arrived home, and neither of the girls could tell whether he was angry, worried, frantic or all of the above based on his tone.

Corrin glanced worriedly into Camilla's eyes, scared of being yelled at again. But her older sister gave her a nod, telling her she'd make sure it'd be alright. Not a second later, Xander stormed into the sitting room, bathing the walls with light from the main hallway.

His blonde curls wet from the heavy mist at night and his clothing tattered, he appeared totally disheveled. But the relief that appeared on his face drew enough attention away from his current state.

"There you are!" He sighed in relief, rushing into the room and towards his sister. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her tightly into a desperate hug. "Thank the heavens you're alright." Clearly, he'd been just as frantic as the rest of them, maybe more. His face, however, quickly lost the look of relief and turned terribly cross.

"You had all of us worried half to death, do you know that?!" he half-yelled, his mouth drawn into a deep frown. His eyes squeezed shut as his arms squeezed his sister tighter.

"I'm sorry," Corrin murmured over his shoulder.

"Don't be sorry!" he said sternly, pulling her back and shaking her a bit by the shoulders. "Be smart! You can't do things like this, Corrin!"

"Xander," Camilla began coolly, placing a hand on Corrin's head. "Before you get started, I've already given her enough of a tongue-lashing for the night. Let's leave the poor girl to recover for now, hm?"

This came of something of a shock to Xander, Camilla knew. Normally, any discipline that had to be doled out to Corrin was naturally done by her older brother. It only made sense; he was mostly the one responsible for her training and such, and scoldings were taken more seriously coming from the one she idolized. Camilla typically dealt more with Leo and Elise (in the very rare instances where a talking-to was needed) and took more to babying Corrin.

But that night, he was happy Camilla had taken the reigns, as it allowed him to spare himself the lecture and simply be happy Corrin was alright. Camilla watched as he gave the runaway of the day one more small hug before standing back up.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he asked his younger sister, his voice equal parts authority and worry.

"No," Corrin replied. "Just my dress was." She pulled at the edges of her once-nice, black dress, now covered with scratches and patches of dirt.

Xander chuckled, suggesting, "We can give it to Felicia or Flora to repair for you."

"Not Felicia..." Corrin whispered guilty, causing Camilla to let out a giggle.

"Why? What's wrong with Felicia?"

Camilla began tentatively, her voice with a lilt of humor and scandal in it. "Well, let's just say she should be thanking the gods she's a talented healer. She's about as competent a maid as my wyvern is a musician."

The three siblings shared a guilty laugh at the maid's expense. Unfortunately, it was true that poor Felicia's talents did not lie in her profession. Why, even the young noble boy who'd been sent from Castle Krakenburg was advancing further than the girl from the Ice Tribe.

Regardless, Xander sent Corrin off with a chuckle and the order, "Just get into some clean clothes!"

The second Corrin reached the hallway, Xander and Camilla could hear the impact of her siblings pulling her into her umpteeth hug of the evening.

"We miss you, too," Elise told her, evidently having overheard the argument between her two older sisters. Sweet little Elise, always with the perfect thing to say. Camilla was glad, for she felt Corrin really needed to hear it.

The three youngest of the Nohrian family wandered off to a nearby room, their voices still audible, but neither Camilla nor Xander could make out a word. They stood together, trying to find the right words to discuss the events that had transpired.

It was Xander who got there first.

"We've already lost so many siblings..." His voice was quiet next to Camilla, somber. When she turned her head to face him, her heart aching in empathy, she saw his gaze set stubbornly on the floor. His lips were tightening, his brow steeling. He was trying to keep himself under control. After a deep, steadying breath, he continued. "Even - ... I can't have her be another one."

There was something in his voice and his gaze that told Camilla that wasn't all he wanted to say. There was something he was leaving out, something weighing on him that he was trying to push down.

It must have been hard for him, the only son of the queen. She remembered how distant he'd always seemed as a child, his siblings and their mothers resentful of him simply because of station. It must've been difficult to stand on the sidelines as he did and see the only family he had pick each other off. He'd known their stepsister best before she'd disappeared, he'd had to go to the funeral of sweet Clarissa when she'd been poisoned, he'd seen his father order the execution of their brother who'd played a role in killing her.

And now he'd become attached to Corrin. To live through the loss of siblings he'd barely known had been trying enough, no doubt. Losing his little princess... Camilla doubted he could live through that at all.

Gingerly, Camilla laid a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand rested comfortingly on his arm, though he seemed to barely take notice.

"She's alright," she reassured her brother. "Nothing happened to her."

" _This_ time," he countered. "This is only the beginning, don't you see, Camilla? Father can't keep her in here forever. She'll try to escape again, if need be."

"Well, once she's well-trained enough, Father will let her out. He said so himself!" Yes, the ever-loathed plan of her father arose in her mind once more. But she had to believe it, for there was no other choice. If she didn't believe that he would truly let her out someday, then all seemed too hopeless. "He just needs to be sure she can defend herself. If she trains hard... If you encourage her, I'm sure she'll work hard. Then she won't feel the need to run away."

From the very start, the day when Camilla had first met Corrin, she'd favored Xander. She looked up to him more than anyone. It's why he helped her train as he did, for she wanted to prove herself to him more than she would to anyone else. With that drive in her, she'd become a good enough warrior to leave someday soon. Then, she wouldn't have to run away anymore; she'd be free.

After a very long, suspiciously long, pause, Xander replied simply with, "I suppose."

A weight settled on the room between the two siblings. Or perhaps it was simply the weight of her stomach falling that Camilla felt.

"Xander, what aren't you telling me?"

"..."

"Father _does_ intend to let her out when she's passed training, right?"

"Yes. I'm sorry." Xander shook his head, and the cross expression on his face faded away with a slight upturn his lips. "I was simply lost in thought. I'll talk to Corrin, but the next time we come. We should be heading home now. No doubt Father's heard what happened and is waiting to drill us for information."

Xander tried to walk away, but Camilla's grip on his arm tightened.

"Wait," she pleaded gently. "Is everything really alright with you?"

"Of course," her brother replied, a soft and unconvincing smile on his face. His eyes could barely meet hers. "Like I said, I'm tired. But thank you for your concern and for taking care of things in my stead today."

Before Camilla could even give a confused nod of gratitude or ask any followup questions, she lost her chance. In that moment, Elise came toddling up to them from the end of the hallway, tiredly rubbing her eyes. Xander directed his attention fully to her and scooped her into his arms.

"Are you ready to go, little one?" he asked as Elise wrapped her arms around his neck.

A drowsy "mm-hm" was all she could manage as she rested her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes.

"Let's go then."

Leaving again. The youngest child about to fall asleep again. Xander still keeping his distance. Camilla still wanting to hold them all together, wishing things could change.

Corrin alone. Again.

Camilla sighed and followed as her older brother called for Leo and everyone bade Corrin their goodbyes. She hated to leave her like this, after all that had happened... Why could things not change?

Would she really try to run away again if things didn't improve? Would she truly grow more unhappy the longer Father kept her there? Was there nothing her siblings could do to help?

Something had changed in Camilla that day, and she assumed Corrin had changed as well. She saw her younger sister's sadness, felt it stronger in her own chest. It mixed with a fear that Corrin would try to run away again, an urgency to see her released from the fortress' loneliness, and now – stronger than ever – a desire to do all she could to help her.

All she wanted was for Corrin to be happy. And if Corrin couldn't find happiness on her own in the fortress, Camilla would do all she could to make sure she would find happiness in her big sister.

A voice inside her told her it wouldn't be so simple, but the love in her heart tried to say otherwise. No matter what came... surely there was nothing their sisterhood couldn't solve and heal. She loved Corrin more enough, she would never lie to her, she would always be there for her. That had to be enough...

Scary as it was, this night was – as Xander said – only the beginning.

* * *

 **"I have plenty of love to give. More than enough for you." - Camilla, A-Support with Leo**

 **I feel like that quote perfectly sums up her character. This chapter wound up being about fifteen times longer than I planned, but I just started getting hooked on all that love in Camilla's heart :)**

 **Up next: Little Lord Leo. Pretty please drop me a review**

Once again, thank you to CallmeCrazylol for beta-ing. You're a true hero for braving all this.


	3. Leo

_"I never hated you. Not...not ever. I was jealous at times, sure. You were always Xander's favourite. And Camilla...she always doted on you so..."_

 _-Leo to Corrin, Birthright Chapter 18_

* * *

 _But you never belonged here._

* * *

The roar of oncoming Hoshidans was deafening. From across the valley, their cries echoed off the mountains as they charged the Nohrian army, reverberating loud and angry like a rising tide. Rising and ready to flood out their enemies.

So this was what Hoshidan soldiers looked like... White coats, hundreds of gleaming swords under the eastern sun. The sight sent Leo's feet cold and his stomach plummeting to the earth.

His first real battle.

Xander and his retainers stood at Leo's side, Siegfried clutched in his hand as his eyes swept over the opposing army. On his left were Selena, Beruka, and Camilla. Leo's elder sister hadn't mounted her malig yet, but her eyes were focused solely on the sky. Thinned, they strained to see further, and Leo knew she was waiting for a flying brigade of pegasi to appear.

Leo didn't have a sacred weapon like his older brother. He didn't even have a mount like either of his siblings. All he had was a vague idea of the practice of battle, fourteen years of too much theoretical knowledge and vague wisdom passed down to him, and a growing dryness in his mouth that made it difficult to swallow.

Well, that and an obnoxious new retainer at his back.

"Have no fear, Lord Leo!" said his guardian of four months, sweeping his yellow capes to the side as he whipped out a tome. "Odin Dark, hero of the ages is by your side. I swear by the sanctified blood in my veins that no harm shall befall you!"

Leo would never understand why he had gotten stuck with the delusional, lost stage actor when all of his siblings seemed to have had such fine luck with their retainers.

Present and past, his siblings' retainers had been nothing but admirable. Focused, dedicated, strong. He and Corrin, and sometimes even Elise, would occasionally wonder who would wind up at their side over the years. As a younger boy, he'd only hoped to be as lucky as Xander…

* * *

"Focus on your stance, Leo," Xander had commanded him, his sword held still while Leo had taken the moment to adjust his feet below him.

The sounds of sparring from the two brothers as well as the crown prince's retainers filled the training grounds of Castle Krakenburg. The sun's light grew dimmer by the second, and with it Leo's arms were growing more tired, his brow sweatier, and his stomach emptier.

He'd been practicing magic earlier in the day. And the week. The whole month, really. In honesty, it had been far too long since he'd sharpened his sword-fighting skills, and the tutors of the castle were noticing. He couldn't have his head buried in tomes all the time, they'd pointed out.

And so, Leo's plans to relax with a game of chess that evening had been swiftly overturned. He would practice a bit with his older brother. Brush up, really!

"You're placing too much weight on your front leg," Xander had pointed out. He'd lunged forward, dealing a blow that his younger brother almost couldn't avoid. "Concentrate!"

"I am!" Leo had shot back, aggravation rapidly setting into his tone. He'd gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. The only thing worse than being talked down to by Xander would have been losing to Xander in front of his retainers.

One of Xander's retainers, a tall and slender man with handsome brown eyes added his two cents. "If you were concentrating, you wouldn't be losing. He's given you plenty of openings!"

Just as Leo had begun to feel the skin of his cheeks burn, Xander's other retainer jumped in – the first's twin sister.

"Adrian, leave the boy alone," the sister of the pair had replied, her voice resonant and kind. "He's better than you were at that age."

"Haha!" Adrian had let out a warm chuckle. Leo hadn't been able to see him, too busy trying to get a hit on Xander, but he'd been sure he'd had that proud smile of his on his face. Corrin called it handsome; Leo had a few other words to describe it... "Better than you too, Alma."

Much as Leo had respected Adrian, he'd quite liked Alma. In the year that she and her twin brother had been serving Xander, Leo had spent a fair deal of time in their presence. While Adrian tended to be like an annoying older cousin – well-meaning and kind, but a bit of a proud know-it-all – Alma was never anything but polite. She was as good of a rider as Adrian was a knight, and she always let Leo feed her horse while she chatted up Camilla in the stables where the horses and wyverns were kept.

She was beautiful too... Corrin had always said Adrian had the looked like something from a fairy tail. "Like the handsome rogue who sweeps in when the princess is in trouble and carries her to safety," she'd sighed as she mooned over him through the window one day. Leo had told her that was a bit over-dramatic, but if it were true, then Alma looked like the princess.

Of course, Leo had been a quiet boy, and he could never think of much to say to her. Not that it would have made a difference. She was eighteen, she'd said – a full year older than even Xander. But it couldn't hurt a boy to admire from afar...

A sharp jab had come to his side and thrown him to the ground. Very quickly, he'd found himself pulled from his reverie, and the first thing he'd seen was Xander above him, sword pointed down at Leo's chest.

Victorious as usual...

Xander had sheathed his sword, ending the match once and for all. "Well fought," he'd said, his voice strong but warm. A true knight and sportsman, he'd extended his arm down to his brother. "Give me your hand."

Begrudgingly, Leo had reached up and took the open, gloved hand of his older brother. As he climbed to his feet again, he'd wondered if there would ever come a day where he would be the one offering Xander a hand up.

Most likely not. Perfect Xander would always be the victor, and Little Leo would always be struggling behind him. Just like in their swimming lessons, just like in their riding lessons, just like always...

When Leo had been pulled to his feet, Xander had said in a voice that made it near impossible to hold anger at him, "Well, you certainly fared better than I would've against you in a battle of spells. That's for certain!"

That had sent a calm through Leo's chest, at the very least. That was right – there was something the younger prince could do better, something Xander had never been good at. Camilla's mother had been a sorceress, but his sister had never shown an interest in following in her footsteps. Even Corrin had only ever been interested in being Xander's little toy soldier, always having fought with swords and the like.

Magic would always belong to Leo. It would keep him from being lumped in behind his elder siblings, compared to them at every step, and moreover, he actually enjoyed it.

But that didn't change the expectations on him regarding sword wielding...

Alma had approached the two princes' sides, her long, brown hair trailing behind her. "With a bit more practice," she'd begun with a smile tugging at her lips. Her arms crossed as she sized Leo up, she'd gone on to say, "I'm sure he'll be another great warrior prince of Nohr. Don't you think, Adrian?"

Leo had tried to fight the blush down from his face as Adrian joined in. "He's definitely on his way! You'll have to watch out, Lord Xander. It's always the quiet princes who hide their strength and dethrone their older brothers."

The seriousness in his voice had sent a chill straight through Leo's stomach. Surely he didn't think...

However, the wink that the knight had sent Leo's way expelled it immediately. How he could say things so seriously and then wipe it all away with a nod or a wink was always beyond the young prince. All he knew was that he never quite knew how to respond to it. Giggling like Corrin was out of the question...

Xander had seemed to pick up on the jape, dismissing it with a light smile and a shake of his head. He'd placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder, turning him towards the entrance to the castle. "Come, Leo. I think we've trained enough for today. It should be about time for dinner."

"Okay," Leo had replied, eyes resting on the ground. All the attention had made him feel a bit shy.

"Do you know where Camilla is?"

"Still in the stables with Beruka."

Never on the training grounds with the others, but not to be forgotten: the infamous new Beruka.

Not a month prior, there had been an attempt on Camilla's life. In a clever turn of the tides, she'd hired the assassin away from her previous employer – most likely an envious noble. Father hadn't been pleased, but the princess had been in the market for her first retainer anyway, and she seemed to be taking to Beruka quite nicely.

Leo had often visited his sister in the stables to visit with her and her wyvern, Zisa. As time progressed, Beruka was always there too. She as well as the constant string of maids who "just came to see if the princess needs anything." Beruka wasn't a talkative one, but Leo could tell she had at least known the maids were being sent to keep tabs on her. It was well-known that her skill was unmatched, but whether or not she'd be using it for or against Camilla had still been an unknown.

"I'll send one of the maids for her," said Xander, an underlying displeasure in his voice. It had seemed he wasn't so fond of his sister's new 'ally' either. He'd said nothing of it, though, as he turned to his own retainers. "You two can retire for the night as well, if you like. Surely you're hungry as well."

"That's very kind of you, Prince Xander," Adrian had said with a nod of the head. "But we've still got some training to do."

Alma seconded the notion as she'd headed to grab a lance. "Exactly. It wouldn't do for us to rest our laurels!"

"Especially not when Alma's laurels were so badly damaged during our last sparring match!" Adrian had grabbed a lance of his own, completely missing the daggers his sister's eyes were suddenly shooting him.

Leo hadn't been able to contain a laugh as he saw her lips so pursed, her eyes so angry as she asked threateningly, "Excuse me?"

"A jape, dear sister. Merely a jape..."

Her mouth morphing into a playful smile, Alma had replied, "We'll see." She'd turned her attention one last time to the two princes, her voice kind only to them as she wished them a nice evening and a good dinner.

Adrian had done the same mid-swing of his lance, and Xander and Leo thanked them both before heading back into the castle.

In those days, Leo couldn't wait to be old enough to get his own retainers. What would they be like, he'd wondered. Strong and confident like Adrian? Elegant and precise like Alma? Or would they be deadly and mysterious like Beruka?

* * *

"Our first battle as lord and liege! Isn't it exciting?" Odin raved over the sound of approaching Hoshidans. How he could be so calm in such a situation was astounding. Either he was very brave or very dim. "This is but the first step on our epic journey to power and glory unyielding!"

As terrified as Leo was about his maiden battle, he couldn't help but think he'd rather be terrified and alone.

Camilla had been newly assigned a spunky and hotheaded mercenary, Xander a charming and friendly man with a unique way of handling a sword. By the hells, Xander had even managed to find a fearless cavalier with a thirst for blood! Where did they find people like this? And most importantly, why did Father assign Leo this... man-child?

No matter how many missions he'd sent him on, no matter how many blasted "holy artifacts" he'd sent him to find nor how many "cursed spirits" he'd sent him to expel, Leo couldn't seem to get rid of his new retainer.

Well, fine. He didn't need a retainer anyway. He was a prince of Nohr; he could do this on his own.

Ignoring Odin's grandiose proclamations, Leo clutched the edges of his tome harder. Digging a bit of resolve from the depths of his chest, he tried to steel his face. The last thing he needed was Xander thinking he was weak or Camilla pinching his cheeks in front of the whole army. Or gods forbid for Odin to seem the strong one of the two of them.

He ran his gloved hands over the dark blue of his tome, and he felt a vague wave of comfort flood over his chest, even if only for a moment. This tome was brand new, powerful, and most importantly a gift from his sisters.

Well, technically it was a gift from Corrin, but she'd let Elise sign her name in it as well (in rather endearingly crude calligraphy). The two of them were at home, far to the west as he and his two older siblings went to the front. It felt almost odd to be on this side of the war now rather than waiting at home for Camilla and Xander to return, but he was ready.

He'd been preparing for this day. Dare he even say he'd been looking forward to it? But now that the enemy army came rushing towards them like the winds, he was struggling to recall all he'd learned. One would think that years of reading and hearing about Hoshido and their might would lead to the information flooding to the brain at a moment like this...

* * *

"Hm..." Corrin sat on the floor of the sitting room, obviously deep in thought. She and Silas laid sprawled out on a plush blue-gray rug, on their stomachs with a piece of paper and a book to write on in front of them. Corrin held a quill in her hands, the feathered tip pressed to her lips and a critical look on her face.

Elise was practicing her violin – a true _gift_ to the ears coming from a four-year-old and a beginner... Leo peered up from the pages of his book. He'd been trying to study for hours – the history of the Nohrian capital – but his two sisters insisted he stay with them in the sitting room, amidst squeaking violin sounds and discussions about world travels. He almost wished he'd stayed home, but Xander was sitting in on a counsel meeting with Father, and Camilla had gone into the city to buy Corrin new clothes. Being alone in the castle was anything but enjoyable.

"A town square!" Corrin finally declared, putting her quill to the paper and scribbling down her words.

She and Silas had been discussing the places they'd dreamed to see ever since Leo had arrived earlier that morning. While the boy had world cities and famous mountain ranges in mind, the young prince couldn't help but notice Corrin's dream locations tended to be much more... mundane. As to be expected after such isolation, he supposed with a slightly dampened heart.

"Windmire has a really amazing market square," Silas replied.

Yes, Windmire was filled with rich culture, and around every corner was something new to see. Father had taken him through the town once, just him and Xander. Leo could still remember how the awestruck stares of the crowds had made him nervous, and how his father had lifted him up on his shoulders to put him above everyone else's eyes. He'd bought his sons matching quills that day, if memory served, even though Leo had been far too young to use it.

It truly was a beautiful city, filled with interesting people, impressive architecture, and it boasted a history like none other. If only Leo could have the peace and quiet to read his chapters about it...

Once again, he tried to focus his distracted mind on the paragraph before him. _Five winters after the Battle of Fort Dragonfall, the capital city of Windmire found itself-_ "Ooh, and there are these trees!" Corrin spoke up once again, this time even more excited and passionate than the last. Leo's concentration broke. Again. "Pink ones. They have such beautiful, soft, pink flowers… You know which ones I'm talking about? I want to see those someday, too."

Over a missed note from Elise, Leo couldn't help himself from jumping in before Silas had the chance to - though the confusion on the playmate's face made Leo feel his coming comment was warranted. Very matter-of-factly, he told his older sister, "There's no such thing as pink trees."

Corrin's attention hopped from Silas to her brother. "Yes there is!" she declared with wide, indignant eyes. "I've seen them."

Nohr had nothing but evergreens and large, gnarly weeping trees. The landscape was covered in dark greens and browns, but certainly no pinks. In contrast to his sister, Leo had seen enough of Nohr to know...

"Must've been in your other life," he dismissed the topic with a shrug and turned back to his book as Corrin turned back to her list.

 _Five winters after the Battle of Fort Dragonfall, the capital city of Windmire found itself facing a surplus of-_ SCREEECH!

"Elise! Can't you practice somewhere else?"

* * *

A good year had passed, and the same scene presented itself once more. Only this time the violin sounded decidedly cleaner from upstairs, behind the thick doors of the study (gods be praised), and a certain noble boy was out of the picture, his name forbidden to be spoken.

Corrin now sat alone on the rug, a history book in her hands as she and Leo studied together. A pillow lay next to her in case she became weak.

The day of the incident with Silas had triggered Corrin to begin having bouts of weakness – something Leo couldn't remember happening since they were very young. Even then, they came rarely. Now, almost four months had passed, and she'd suddenly lost consciousness at least five times.

The healers who came by suspected it was the mental stress that fateful night had caused her. That may have been true, and maybe the stress was what was leading her to forget her friend a bit more after each breakdown. But Leo couldn't help but find it curious that every time those healers left, Corrin seemed more tired than she had before seeing them. That never happened when Felicia and Flora were in charge, like that day she'd come down with a terrible fever.

Well, he was only eleven, and he wasn't a healer. If Father said they were helping his sister, he simply had to trust that fact. Who was he to think he knew better?

Corrin leaned tiredly on her pillow on the rug, looking deeper into her book with a curious expression. Even without her dreaming buddy, she was still eager to learn more about the world. It made Leo feel a bit selfish, but he was somewhat glad she was more willing to learn with him now rather than spending all her time with Silas.

Not that he'd ever say that aloud.

"Hey, Leo." Corrin laid her book down, open and resting on her chest. "Where's..." She lifted the cover once more to examine a word. With concentrated eyes, she sounded out, " _Horshido_?"

"It's _Ho_ shido," Leo corrected her, laying down his own astronomy book. "And it's in the east."

"How far to the east?"

"All the way on the other side of the Bottomless Canyon." Leo had picked up bits and pieces from his older siblings. Since he was very young he could remember talk of the war to the east. How could he ignore it? It was the very event that had changed the environment of Castle Krakenburg so drastically. His visits became rarer, no one having time to watch him. His father became colder, more distant. A great deal had changed thanks to Hoshido; how could he ignore them?

"Oh..." A bit of disappointment sunk into Corrin's voice, and her eyes scanned over the pages of her book somewhat longingly.

With a quiet sigh at her following silence, Leo took the bait and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well..." Corrin gathered her book into her arms and moved to sit next to her brother on the couch. She laid the book between their laps, and Leo's eyes were met with two pages of text and colored illustrations of the eastern lands. "Doesn't it just look beautiful?"

Leo had to admit, it took his breath away. The largest illustration depicted a towering palace – _Castle Shirasagi, home of the royal family_ , the caption read – made of pale stone and red wooden framework. Curved, green roofs left shadows over maple trees and ponds. And the lands around it: brighter than anything the young prince had ever seen. It was a riverbed, just like Nohr had, but fertile and green, full of life. According to a passage on the page that he skimmed, the land experienced almost total sunlight.

The other pictures were much the same, showing mountain ranges, shrines, and the like. One smaller portrait showed King Murakami along with the queen and their children. The book must've been dated... Father had killed Murakami's oldest son, Sumeragi, years ago.

Over Leo's speechlessness, Corrin continued. "Even if we're at war... I hope I might be able to see it someday."

Well, if Xander was doing a good job (and Camilla as well, since she'd come of fighting age), Hoshido would belong to Nohr soon. If the army was strong and proud, they would exit the war victorious. There'd be no more famine with Hoshido's bounty to go around, no more sicknesses that couldn't be cured without Hoshido's valuable herbs. No more reason to keep them from crossing the border. The land would be Nohr's, and they'd be free to see it as they pleased.

"With any luck," replied Leo, a spark of Corrin's excitement igniting within his own heart. "You will."

Corrin smiled dreamily as they continued to browse through the pages. There were sections of traditional paintings, their music, the histories of their larger cities and territories…

"Look at this!" Leo sighed in awe when they reached a chapter on the Hoshidan forces. The only visuals were a drawing of a uniform and a stylized, traditional painting of their army in battle. It was massive, a sea of white coats and a crowd of masked soldiers.

Corrin took notice of the text below, and began to read along in an interested tone, " _The Hoshidan soldiers fight under a strict code of respect. Their search for glory and their honor of their fellow man can be summarized under the term 誉れ (homare – honor, glory, reputation)."_

Leo scoffed in response. "How can they have one word for honor and glory? They're different things."

"Maybe there's glory _in_ fighting honorably?" suggested Corrin, shrugging her shoulders and widening her eyes. "Maybe they're somehow parts of each other. So… they're sort of the same?"

"No," Leo drew out exasperatedly. "There's _honor_ in _bringing_ glory. One comes from the other. That's what my tutors have taught me."

"Well, your teachers aren't Hoshidan," countered Corrin. "Maybe they have different ideas there."

Corrin seemed satisfied at Leo's lack of response and took the book back from her brother with a smile, flipping through the pages and gazing over their pictures. Leo took his own astronomy book back in hand, wanting to continue his research as well. Though just when he'd begun the first sentence, Corrin gasped.

"Leo!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulder. Her eyes wide, she shoved the book back into his lap and pointed at one of the pages. "Leo, look! It's the pink trees!"

Pink trees? It took him a confused moment and a glance at the illustration under Corrin's finger for him to catch up. Under a blue sky... pink trees! Corrin had mentioned wanting to see them before, when she'd been with Silas. And he'd told her they were fake.

"I _told you_ they were real!"

In bewilderment, he felt he just had to take a closer look. There was no way...

But there they were in full color. Deep brown trunks and spread out branches, and at their tips: pink blossoms. Pale like the water of the stream below them or the white clouds above them. So they really did exist...

"They're called... sakura trees," Corrin's voice read from over his shoulder, sounding the word out carefully. With an excited and impressed sigh, she exclaimed, "Even the name is beautiful! Sakura..."

He almost missed the way the r flowed off her tongue, but he didn't think it worth it to correct her.

With a shake of her head, Corrin took the book back kindly and closed the cover. Turning her attention to him, she asked, "What book are you reading?"

"I'm reading about comet showers," said Leo. At least he'd been trying to... "There's supposed to be one next week."

"Really?"

Leo nodded and began to tell his sister all about it. This shower only came once every 60 years, and each time it let thousands of falling stars streak across the sky. He was hoping to observe it from his room, provided there was clear weather.

"Ooh, you should go to a big meadow instead!" Corrin suggested excitedly. "Really enjoy it, just like in the books. You could bring a big blanket and some snacks and look up at the sky. Oh, you should bring Elise! She'd love to see something like that."

It seemed his sister was getting more excited about the shower than he was! She seemed to have a whole evening planned. He wondered if she had had it written down on that dream list she'd made with Silas.

The thought sent a pang through his stomach. He suddenly felt almost... guilty. It hardly seemed fair that he was so unenthused about the ordeal when Corrin – the only one who couldn't go see it – sat next to him with such obvious wanderlust. There were practically already stars in her eyes.

He could barely appreciate the freedom he had, and meanwhile her best hope of seeing the outside world was through her bedroom window…

"Yeah. Maybe."

At that moment, they heard a loud creak echo through the halls from the main door.

"Hello?" called a familiar voice from afar. It seemed Xander had finished up his duties at the castle and decided to drop by.

A more feminine voice joined him, yelling teasingly, "Is anyone home?"

Even before hearing Camilla's voice, Corrin's face lit up at the sound of Xander's. With a gasp and a smile, she discarded her book on the sofa without a second thought and jumped out of her seat.

"Xander!" she called as she ran out of the room to the foyer, grabbing on to the doorway one-handed and swinging herself out with the force of her momentum.

Leo sighed. It was nice to hear Xander and Camilla had stopped by, truly. Loathe as he was to admit it, he did enjoy the time he got to spend with his older brother and sister. But a piece of his mind was put out by how quickly his time with Corrin – or anyone, for that matter – could be cut short, coming to a screeching halt whenever one of their other siblings appeared. Everyone, Elise included, always seemed to prefer being with Xander and Camilla if the opportunity arose.

Speaking of which, the sounds of the youngest sister's violin had stopped, and a high-pitched and happy voice could be heard in the foyer.

Sighing in resignation, he gently closed the cover of his book, laying it next to his sister's on one of the cushions. All of a sudden, the design of stars and two stargazers - a man and a woman - on the cover caught his eyes. And then, as if a switch in his head had been flipped, the gears in his head began to turn.

A plan began to draw itself out in his mind, and he wasn't sure it would work…But if he was to have a chance, he'd need to be on his best behavior, and (as little as he liked being manipulative) Xander and Camilla's good sides.

Slowly, he stood and made his way to the ground floor to greet his siblings.

* * *

That evening, Leo sat in the study at sundown with his history books before him – the picture of a responsible student. And he was rather enjoying himself.

Across from him lay two sets of more advanced books – Xander's and Camilla's, both of whom had abandoned them for the night hours ago. Xander had held on until roughly an hour ago before heading to the training grounds with Corrin. Camilla had already been there for one and a half hours prior.

Since coming of fighting age, Camilla had been been spending much more time on the training grounds with her axe. Only fitting, her little brother supposed. She'd be heading out to battle next week, and strength would serve her better than history lessons.

But still, it was somewhat nice to have someone around. He'd been doing very well in his studies, and it wasn't that he needed someone there to see it or pat him on the back; he wasn't so needy. But... It was easy to feel left out in such a large family. With Elise being the baby and Corrin being... well, everything from Xander's protege to Camilla's little darling, he often felt lost amidst the noise of his other siblings. Studying was one of the few times he felt on an equal level with his siblings, content and useful.

Camilla would ask him questions, Xander always put his quill that Father had bought him to his chin and stare at Leo's twin one when he was deep in thought. When Corrin was with them, she always found some lighthearted comment to make them all smile during a particularly difficult chapter.

But eventually, they'd all dwindle off. Well, so be it, he told himself as he refocused on his book with determination. He was intelligent and ambitious enough on his own, right? He could prove himself, and without anyone else's validation, hand holding, or doting.

He busied himself with his studies for another quarter of an hour or so. Cool, evening air slipped in through the window pane that he'd cracked, and the room began to grow dim. His eyes adjusted to the grayish light of dusk reflecting off the stone walls. At some point, a faint aroma began to waft up from the kitchens, though he didn't notice.

"Prince Leo," a voice broke through the quiet of the room. One of the maids stood in the doorway, her hands clasped respectfully in front of her. "Your family is awaiting your arrival at the dinner table."

"Thank you, Esme," Leo dismissed her.

Time for dinner, but first, he just needed to finish this chapter...

 _After solidifying his power thereafter through his marriage to Rosalinde I of the wealthy and influential Minnigerode clan, Lord Siegmund founded the land of Nohr and became its first king. Even today his dynasty sur-_ "Leo!"

A shout from the floor below that sounded an awful lot like Camilla snapped Leo's head up and back into the present time. The history of Nohr would have to wait, he supposed.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" he called with annoyance. In a hurry, he slipped on the shoes he'd previously slipped out of to get more comfortable, and he ran down towards the dining hall.

One of the guards kindly tried to stop Leo as he ran past, but he didn't hear him. Cecil was always one to make small talk anyway. It probably was nothing important.

Finally, the young prince turned the corner through a tall stone archway "I'm here. Oof!"

He stumbled across the floor, losing his footing a bit on the red rug leading to the dining room table where his siblings awaited his arrival. A wave of giggles arose as four faces turned their attention to him. Camilla pointed at his feet.

"Leo," she began with a demure giggle. "You may want to take a closer look at your shoes."

At his... Oh. So that's what Cecil had wanted to stop him about...

It seemed in his hurry, Leo had slipped his shoes on the wrong feet. Turning the corner must've caused the problem and lead him to trip. With a groan and a painful blush, Leo ducked out of sight and swapped his shoes around as a chorus of laughter came from the table. Why did it always feel like he wound up the odd man out?

With an annoyed expression, Leo shuffled back to the dining room table, taking care to avoid the edge of the rug and further worsening the situation.

"Oh, don't be so sour, Leo," Camilla said chidingly. "Even you're allowed a slip of the mind once in a while."

The kitchen staff brought out a plate of steaming food for Leo as he pouted. The smell of steak, prawn, and vegetables wafted up to his nose. It must've been Corrin's turn to decide dinner, he realized. Surf and turf was one of her favorites. Together, the five siblings picked up their silverware, and dinner officially began.

From across the table, next to Elise, Corrin gazed up at Leo. "You know, these little slip ups are probably your brain trying to tell you something! 'Stop overworking me, Leo!'" she joked before lifting a spoonful of mushrooms to her mouth with a kind smile.

Leo had a good comeback ready, but his mouth was already full of steak. It was probably for the best that Xander beat him to the punch.

"Now, there's nothing wrong with some diligence in one's studies," their older brother joined in from the head of the table.

Leo look up at Corrin with raised eyebrows, vindicated.

Xander's voice held a certain authority within their family, but it quickly disappeared as a sly smile crossed his lips. He glanced to his left, and coolly teased, "Right, Camilla?"

The least diligent student of the bunch, Camilla's eyes narrowed playfully as she shot Xander a sugary sweet, sarcastic smile. "You know, I haven't fed Zisa yet, dear brother," she said with a quick glance in the direction of the stables. Coyly, she continued, "I wonder how she'd like the taste of crown prince..."

Xander let out a hearty laugh as he readied a prawn on his fork. "Peace, peace. I'm merely joking. You've been surprisingly diligent in your training in exchange."

"Surprisingly,' you say?"

"I can't seem to win today." Xander shook his head fondly and took a bite of his food, Camilla smiling in return and doing the same.

Their mood seeped into Leo as well, a smile creeping onto his face as well as he chewed. True, his older siblings could get trying at times, but their presence made the Northern Fortress a brighter place than Castle Krakenburg ever could be. Here, there were no watchful eyes, no manipulators, no rumormongers. They could simply be siblings. Family.

Gods, this steak was delicious...

From across the table, Corrin placed a delicate hand to her chest as she swallowed, and her eyes flickered to Xander at the head of the table.

"Speaking of studies," she began. "Leo was studying astronomy earlier today, and he said there's going to be a comet shower next week!"

Elise spoke up for the first time that evening, her six year old head stretching to fully peer over the table at her siblings. "What's a comet?" she asked with a mouthful of string beans.

Camilla chided her for speaking with a full mouth before answering her question. "Comets are falling stars, darling," she explained gently. Leo wanted to jump in and explain them better, but Elise seemed too enthralled by her older sister's voice for him to justify interrupting. "You know, they say every warrior has a star in the sky, and a falling star is a warrior fallen in battle."

Corrin was listening too, and her grip on her cutlery went loose, drooping low as her face followed suit. "That's awful..."

Leo tried to make her feel better by informing her, "That's just an old wives' tale."

"Why are you supposed to make wishes on them, then?" she asked Camilla, either not hearing her younger brother's words or choosing to ignore them.

"Because they gave their lives so that we can wish for a better future and have a realistic chance to see it realized," Camilla explained gently. "We wish in order to honor what they fought for."

Leo had to keep from rolling his eyes. How typical of Camilla to know all of those tales. They made better bedtime stories than scientific explanations. He was sure there was a real reason behind the falling stars, surely, even if his book couldn't exactly explain it. However – and he admitted this to himself begrudgingly – the traditional story had a nice ring to it.

As Corrin's eyes dimmed at the thought of a shower of dying soldiers, Elise's did the exact opposite.

"Do your wishes come true?!" the youngest sibling asked hopefully, her eyes round and shining as she looked to Camilla for an answer.

"Maybe," answered Camilla with a smile. She turned back to her dinner, cutting off a piece of steak before looking at it disapprovingly and opting for the prawn instead. Before taking a bite, she asked, "Why, darling? Do you have a big wish you need granted?"

Elise thought a second long as four sets of eyes watched her fondly. "Mmmm... I want a horse like Xander's!" she finally declared, an ear-to-ear smile on her face with two missing bottom teeth. "He let me ride on Gustavus the other day!"

"I heard," replied Camilla warmly.

Xander joined back in the conversation, if only to bring it back to the point. Peering up from his plate, he addressed his younger brother. "Leo, are you planning to view the comet shower?"

"Yes," answered Leo. He thought back to Corrin's earlier suggestions for stargazing, and thought they may not be too bad. "I thought I might take my astronomy book out to a meadow and study the stars while I'm at it. And maybe bring some food in case I get hungry."

"That sounds fun," Xander replied. With a glance in Elise's direction, he suggested, "Perhaps you could take your sister with you."

"I hope you mean me," said Camilla with a laugh that shower she was only halfway joking.

Leo ignored Elise's disappointed pout – not understanding the joke – and Camilla holding her hand out for her over the table. Xander's words had jogged his memory, reminding him of the plan he'd formulated. There was someone else he wanted them to let him take. Someone who longed to see the outside world, and to whom he longed to explain it. Someone whose eyes had lit up at the mere thought of a comet shower and who had been so bursting with ideas for viewing it that they'd practically overflowed from her mouth the minute she'd gotten the chance to voice them.

He laid his knife and fork down gently on his plate, careful not to make a sound as he gathered the courage to speak up and ask for what he really wanted:

"Actually, do you think I could take Corrin?"

Silence.

Palpable silence.

Xander's knife stopped cutting through his food, the scraping of Elise's spoon as she used it to play with her vegetables ceased. And Corrin – her fork had stilled midair as her eyes shot to Leo, wide with... disbelief? Shock? Fear?

Their eyes met for a single moment, and he could sense the question of "Did you really just do that?" in her gaze before it flicked over to Xander, looking and hoping for approval. However, she quickly glanced back down at her plate, perhaps hoping not to look too eager. Then back to Xander. And down once more.

Made unsure by the silence, Leo tried to explain himself. He'd thought this all out! "I could ask Father, and-"

Xander's voice broke in before he could finish. Before he could start, really.

"I don't think that'd be wise, Leo," he said, his voice hard and distant.

"Then he wouldn't have to know!" Leo protested. It wouldn't be the first time they'd hid something from their father, and this would be for Corrin! Precious Corrin who normally got all she wanted from Camilla and Xander. "We could-"

But again, Xander cut him off, his voice growing more agitated as his cutlery was placed rather roughly on his plate. "To do such a thing right under his nose is preposterous!"

"What hurt can one evening possibly do?" Leo argued back. It wouldn't be far, it wouldn't be for long!

At the sound of his voice close to shouting, Camilla inserted softly from his right, "Leo, please don't raise your voice."

She, however, was quickly ignored as Xander continued his rebuttal.

"All it takes is one evening!" he declared. "If you two were to be ambushed? What would you do then?"

"We've both been training for years! We could handle-"

"No, you couldn't, Leo," said Xander, so maddeningly matter-of-factly that it sent Leo's blood to a sudden near-boil.

"How do you-?!"

"The answer is no."

"But-!"

" _No_."

The volume and finality of Xander's last word was enough to get Leo biting his lip to keep any further arguments inside. His eyes steeled and shot pointedly back to his plate, guarding his wounded pride.

It wasn't fair. None of it was fair! He hadn't had a problem suggesting Leo take Elise – the baby of the family. Why was it a problem with Corrin? Why did they always make such a fuss over her? All she wanted was to go outside. Was that bad enough to warrant yelling, to warrant banning Silas from the fortress?

He simply didn't understand. Leo didn't understand why Xander had to be this way. It was clear that Corrin was his favorite. If that was the case, then why wouldn't he let her go like she clearly wanted? Why yell at Leo and treat them both like little children? Why keep her locked away?

"It's okay."

Leo's eyes raised slowly across the table at the sound of Corrin's voice. She broke the silence with the gentle smile of a peacemaker on her lips, but it was very poorly masking her disappointment. "Really. I can watch from my bedroom! You can see everything from that high up."

She tried her hardest to be convincing, that much was clear. Her smile brightened, but somehow remained damp still. Her optimism shined through as always, but Leo knew well enough that her bedroom was nothing in her mind when compared to a wide open meadow.

The thought of her sitting alone in her room while he and Elise went out and stargazed simply depressed him. He really wanted to go to the meadow, but he couldn't bear to just leave her...

"I'll stay here with you," he murmured, still disheartened but making peace.

Elise joined in, the sweetness of her voice chipping away at the tense mood. "Can I stay, too?" she asked, looking between Corrin and Leo for approval.

"Of course, Elise," answered Corrin. However, the final authority lay not in her hands. "As long as..."

The final authority lay with Xander, the de facto leader of the household, who sat with intense and pointed concentration on his plate. Whether or not he was pointedly ignoring Corrin's gaze and Elise's question or simply angry just as Leo was, the younger brother didn't know.

In light of the silence, Camilla – after arching an eyebrow at her older brother that he failed to see – took it upon herself to answer. "That should be fine, darling. Right, Xander?"

At the sound of his name, Xander's eyes glanced up, but quickly returned to his plate when he realized that Camilla hadn't really required an answer of him.

"We're heading to the eastern front for a spell next week anyway. We'll talk to Father and see if the two of you could stay here while we're gone." Camilla smiled for Elise and held her hand out for her little sister across the table. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Yeah!" Elise replied, grabbing her sister's hand. Her tone brightened, and she ignored the tense atmosphere in favor of smiling and giggling happily. "I love spending the night here! Corrin's maids are so much fun!"

Xander's head finally raised slightly, and he took everyone a bit by surprise as he turned to Camilla.

"What's wrong with your steak, Camilla?"

The eldest sister paused, her eyes widening in confusion at his apparent attempt to follow Elise's suit and move on to a new topic. It seemed he wasn't as gifted in subtlety as his baby sister...

Discomfort arising in the air again, she shot a look at the barely-touched steak on her plate. "Oh, um, it's... it's too well done for my taste."

"Hm."

Elise took back the reins, either ignoring or pretending to ignore Xander's clearly forced mood. "Did I tell you about the time Jakob played hide and seek with me? He spent forever trying to find me, but I..."

She babbled on, as she loved to do, and Leo kept his eyes on his plate for the rest of dinner. It didn't seem fair that he only ever heard the word "no". "No, Leo. You're not old enough." "No, Leo. You're not strong enough yet." His siblings seemed to believe in him when he was studying, so why not in anything else?

A memory hit him of the night Corrin had gone missing. He'd wanted to go after her then, and Camilla had simply answered "no." He'd been too weak, in her eyes. He realized now she may have been right then, but he was stronger now… right? He could protect Corrin if he needed to.

However, more of Camilla's words flooded back to him from that night: being an adult means doing what you know is right over doing what you want.

Across the table he saw Corrin, rather skinny and pale. If anything were to happen to her… If anyone were to attack them in the dark of the night while they stargazed…

Stubbornly he suppressed the thought, his thoughts of doubt, and the thought that even when she wasn't actively involved in a situation, Camilla was always right.

He focused on his food, though suddenly, he didn't feel so hungry.

* * *

A week passed, and moods leveled out again. Xander had Camilla were riding off with a few of the army's legions to check on the eastern front, and they'd arranged to have Leo and Elise stay in the Northern Fortress during their absence, just as they'd said they would.

Leo was excited for the coming comet shower, and more so he was glad to get out of the castle for a while. Krakenburg was an improvement over Clarkenstein, no doubt, but the silence was present there as well, the cold stone walls with eyes and ears around every corner just the same.

The bonus, however morbid this made him sound, was that Leo no longer had to worry about the icy hands of his mother gripping his shoulder with every step, watching and controlling his every move. He no longer heard the whispers of the other mothers, for they'd all been executed or fallen ill and passed naturally. Elise's mother – the last of them all – had passed just over six months ago, leaving the villa empty.

As his younger sister sat beside him at the windows of Corrin's bedroom, waiting intently for the comet shower to begin, he couldn't help but wonder if she felt as liberated as he had. Camilla, even, seemed almost freer when her mother was gone, though she'd been more irritable in the months after her death. She denied that fact, but he could still remember her snapping at him every now and then, exploding on Corrin far more than she otherwise would've when she'd run off with Silas. When he'd lost his mother, he hadn't quite known how to feel, and he remembered spending a lot of days simply thinking. Reading. Quiet.

But Elise seemed as happy as ever... She'd been far younger when her mother had gone than any of her siblings had been. When she'd finally succumb to her illness, Elise's mother had left a daughter only five years old behind. Even when Queen Katerina passed away, Xander had been seven years old.

Elise still seemed so bubbly, just as much a ball of energy as she'd always been. Had she not had the time to get attached? Or had she perhaps never been attached to start with? Leo wanted to ask her, perhaps even offer to talk about it with her, but... it didn't seem there was much to talk about.

"Leo?"

The sound of his little sister's high-pitched voice shook him a bit as such thoughts filled his conscience. She was missing two teeth when she spoke, her hair and her dress were unruly from playing all day. She was still so young... And yet Father hadn't protested in the slightest to not seeing her for at least two weeks, and her mother was gone. She would never know Father the way Leo and the others could remember him. She would never ride on his shoulders through Windmire, and she would never have a mother to take his place again.

"Do you know any _comsternations_?"

And yet... she didn't seem to mind. And if she didn't mind, who was Leo to push sadness onto her? If she was happy with him – and with Corrin and Camilla and Xander – then he was happy too.

A smile pulled at Leo's lips as he explained, "I think you mean 'constellations.'"

"Yeah!" Elise exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. She placed her hands on the window pane, the night sky blackening the windows and reflecting her smile in the glass as she rocked excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Corrin said they're pictures in the sky. You know them, right?"

"I know some," replied Leo. He'd read about a few in his astronomy books. Slowly, he edged closer to the window to stand next to his sister.

"You know _everything!_ "

"I just said I know _some_." Leo tried in vain to fight down a small smile.

"Well, which ones?" Elise balanced her knees on the stone sill before the window, standing on her kneecaps and pressing her hands to the glass with wide, curious eyes. Leo instinctively raised his hand in case she fell, lowering it only when she found her balance. "Where are they? And what do they look like? Ooh, are there _constellations_ that look like flowers? Or do they look more like people? You know, like warriors! Camilla said every star is a warrior."

"I know," Leo said softly, barely getting a word in edgewise. "I was there, remember?"

Just as Elise was revving up for another round of questions, her intake a breath was cut short when Corrin entered the room.

"Okay!" announced their older sister. She slipped through the oaken door to her bedroom with a plate of food in her hand. What is was, Leo couldn't quite make out in the light of her bedside candles.

As she moved to blow out the lights, Corrin explained, "I managed to steal away some blackberry tarts from dessert for us to snack on while we watch. We just have to be careful not to get anything on the rug. Gunter and Chef Dominic are letting me break the rule of food not leaving the dining area, but the maids can't find out!"

"Ooh, yummy!" Elise exclaimed, climbing down from the window and rushing over to her sister as the final light went out, washing the three siblings in nothing but moonlight through the large windows. "Can I have one?"

Elise found a black and tan tart landing in her hands, which she bit into with glee. Corrin lead her by the shoulder back to Leo's side at the windows.

"Leo was going to show me constellations!"

"Ooh!" Corrin placed the plate of treats on the windowsill and settled down next to Leo, Elise perched in front of her and leaned back into her arms. "I want to see too. Point some out!"

And so it was that they waited on the comet shower. Leo pointed out the Wyvern's Eye, the Great Dragon, Magnum Miles and Paululum Miles... He spent most of the time searching for the star maps in his book – which was no easy feat in the dim light of the moon.

Eventually, a good half hour had come and gone, and still no comets were falling. Elise fell asleep in Corrin's lap, her short attention span leading her to boredom. The two older siblings still waited at the windows, though, anxiously peeling their eyes for falling stars.

"I wonder if we have the wrong day," Corrin suggested over Elise's light breathing.

"No, it has to be today," answered Leo. He too was getting a bit impatient. The tarts were running low, too… "It's every sixty years precisely. This is the day."

Just as he reached down to grab one of the treats, a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder, and he heard Corrin gasp.

"Leo!" She shook his shoulder excitedly until he looked up at her, at which point one arm flew up and pointed to the night sky outside. "Leo, look!"

At first he saw nothing but a blank sheet of stars, but then for the quickest instant, a white trail soared across the sky, as thin as if someone had scratched the darkness with silver.

"There went another one!"

And all at once, the sky was filled with scratches. This way and that, stars soared across the horizon and beyond. Leo could only gasp in awe. Some of the comets were small, but some were thicker and radiant. Some burst into separate, smaller comets and splayed out across the sky like beautiful, shining spiderwebs.

"Look at all those stars," Corrin whispered in wonderment at his side. A quick glance in her direction proved her to be just as awestruck as her brother. "Must be some battle, huh?"

Camilla's old wives' tale... It was unfathomable that people could believe every one of these falling stars was a falling Nohrian soldier. He thought of his older brother and sister fighting in the east. They couldn't be falling, but if only they could be seeing this too...

He remembered one of the illustrations he'd seen in Corrin's book the week before of a grand castle bathed in light. Well, Hoshido may have had all that beautiful sunlight, but they didn't have anything like this.

Corrin asked, a bit more focused now, if Leo was going to make a wish on the stars.

He scoffed lightly, his eyes never leaving the sky. "That's just for children," he said offhandedly.

"Well, I'm making one," Corrin replied indignantly, a smile on her face saying it was all in good humor. She squeezed her eyes tight, her head tilted up towards the sky. She paused for a moment, and maybe it was only Leo's imagination, but her eyes looked a bit wetter when they opened and caught the moonlight again. "Do you want to know what I wished for?"

"You can't tell me or it won't come true!"

It was a snap reaction, a callback to his years as a younger boy, but it brought Corrin to laughter."Hahaha! 'For children,' huh?" she teased him. He could do nothing but sputter in response, so she took him into a one-armed hug from the side. "Oh, I love you, Leo."

He nudged closer to his sister's side and, with very convincing reluctance, replied, "I love you too."

The two of them stayed that way a while, Corrin stroking Elise's head as they watched the stars. They debated waking their younger sister up, but when they tried, she only snuggled closer to Corrin and brought the blackberry filling smeared on the edges of her lips dangerously close to staining Corrin's nightclothes. So they'd let her be.

"This is nice," said Corrin contentedly after a while. "It's nice to have some time just the two of us. Well, three of us." She smiled at the end and gestured to the sleeping Elise.

"You think so?" Leo asked. He was glad to hear her say that, but in all honesty, when he looked back at the time he'd spent in the fortress over the years... "You always seem to have more fun with Xander and Camilla around."

"What?" Corrin looked to him curiously, awaiting an explanation.

He took a shallow breath, trying to explain himself as non-provokingly as possible. "You always seem to want to spend all of your time training with Xander or... trying on clothes with Camilla – or whatever it is that you two do. I'm not complaining! I just notice you tend to prefer spending time with them."

"Well," Corrin began. She didn't sound angry, at least. She sounded rather calm, actually. "I do love them both – _so_ much. But with Camilla, she's always my big sister, always worrying about me. And Xander... Well, either way, you're... You feel more like my friend than my brother, sometimes!"

"What does that mean?"

"I just mean you're never afraid to treat me like you would anyone else. You're never fussing over me. It's nice. You're always there for me." She smiled kindly, and Leo couldn't help but reciprocate. "Just like... Do you remember that time when we were little – seven and eight, I think – and Father let me come to the Winter Solstice celebration at Castle Krakenburg?"

Gods, that felt like ages ago. But it still remained somewhat vivid in Leo's mind. Some memories came to mind of snow on the windowpanes, a feast in the dining hall... "Yeah, I remember."

"And I'd somehow slipped off on my own, and I ran into..." Corrin's voice seemed to lose its calm, and she paused for the shortest moment before gathering her courage again. "Into Camilla's mother. She started... pinching my ears, teasing me, implying I wasn't-"

"Our sister."

It came back too quickly, but Leo remembered that moment for certain.

He'd never heard anyone openly bully Corrin before. She was always the center of life in the Northern Fortress, and not many people in Windmire knew of Nohr's second princess. Only Father's other suitors made back-handed comments about her, and only when their 'beloved' wasn't around. Perhaps that's why Camilla's mother had taken advantage of the moment she'd found Corrin alone; she never had been one to pass up a chance to air her complaints, as far as Leo remembered.

"Yes, I remember that."

"I was so scared," said Corrin with either a laugh or a shaky voice. "I really thought she'd hurt me. That she hated me enough to do something to me."

Without meaning to let them, the words of Camilla's mother echoed in Leo's head. He'd stood behind the corner, he'd seen how she'd towered over Corrin, her violet eyes like a snake's and her fingers pinching his sister's ears and bringing frightened tears to her eyes.

 _"I've never seen ears such as these before... Striking, positively striking. The curious thing is that I saw all of the attendants at the Summer Palace your mother supposedly hailed from, and not once did I see such pointed things. And they certainly aren't from my King Garon._ _My king has an enormous heart, you know. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd found it in himself to take in the child of some poor, pointy-eared peasant."_ _Leo had been young, but he'd been old enough to understand what Camilla's mother was saying. His stomach sank as the thought hit him: "Corrin isn't my sister?" But he had known the lavender-haired, sharp-tongued sorceress well enough. She was lying, she was toying with her sister, and by the gods did Leo know how that kind of antagonism felt. And thanks to his mother's example, he knew how it looked in practice as well._

 _"He may have the rest of his circle fooled by this charade – the weakness, the isolation, the convenient death of your mother..." Leo had only just been able to hear her over his heart pounding in his chest. He'd felt his feet making hurried strides forward, barely thinking about what he was doing. "But I remained unconvinced, little-"_ Corrin's voice grew soft, fond, as she remembered, "But then you jumped in. You didn't say a word, but you still made her go away."

 _"Oh, now isn't this just darling? The maid's royal son springing to the street rat's defense. Truly a tale for the bards."_ _Leo had held tight to Corrin's arm, calling upon what stubbornness he could find within himself to keep his gaze from shrinking away from that of the scary older woman._ _"You know, little lord Leo, your mother would have your head for sticking to this one's side as you do. She'll cause you naught but grief, mark my words."_ "It wasn't like you were stepping in to protect me, but just..." Corrin trailed off, but a smile grew on her face. "You were there, and you wouldn't leave me. That's the kind of stuff I mean – you're my friend, Leo. And I'm very grateful for that."

"Well..." Perhaps Corrin did cause him grief sometimes. Perhaps he did get a bit jealous of her, and perhaps he wished he fit in as well as she did. Perhaps he longed to be the perfect swordsman she would be for Xander someday or the perfect older sibling to Elise, the perfect younger sibling to Camilla. But in the end... "I'm still your brother, after all. I have to be your friend."

Corrin laughed quietly and shook her head.

As easy as it was to say she didn't understand the struggles of his and his other siblings' childhoods, he knew she did see glimpses of it. That day in Castle Krakenburg was the worst of it, but during all of her few visits, she received the cold stares and whispers just the same as her other siblings. As a child and even now as an adolescent, Leo couldn't simply shut her out, no matter how he sometimes wanted to.

She needed a friend. She needed her family, just as he himself knew he did. Corrin knew the same pains her siblings did. And when she turned her head away and gazed at the stars, he knew she probably knew pains that he and the others wouldn't ever understand. There was no doubt in his mind that she'd wished on that star for freedom from the fortress...

And so, despite whatever dormant feelings of resentment for her lay in his heart, he focused on the feelings of love and kinship. Friendship. He turned his gaze to the night sky as well, and his eyes trailed a falling star across the horizon.

He wished for her freedom, too – from her prison here and from the ill feelings he was sure were within her. And as he did, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off his heart.

As they continued to watch the comet shower, Elise rolled over to lay between him and Corrin, the latter of whom kept one hand around each of her siblings. The three of them snuggled together, and Leo felt… equal. He felt close to his sisters, more so than he normally did, and out of nowhere the thought came to mind:

 _I wish Xander and Camilla were here too._

The stars continued to fall.

* * *

More than a week later, Leo and Elise were still at the fortress with their elder sister. Corrin and Leo kept up on their training, Elise stayed mostly busy playing.

Now was a quieter moment, the three siblings were gathered in the great hall where Corrin's piano was kept. Elise had brought her violin to practice as well, and the two sisters played together as Leo listened.

"Try taking those notes a half-step up, Elise," said Corrin from the stool of her piano. "I think it will give the phrase a bit more power."

"Like this?" Elise raised her bow to her violin and proceeded to recite a few measures to her sister.

Leo glanced up from his newest tome, letting the sounds of music run through his ears. Elise had improved by leaps and bounds as time had gone on… Having some background music as he memorized incantations was now rather enjoyable.

"That sounds nice," he said as Elise finished, earning lovely smiles from both of his sisters.

Before they could continue their song, a knock on the door echoed through the hall and stopped them short.

Their attention turned the the door as it creaked open. Jakob stepped in courteously and spoke up. "Lady Corrin. Lord Xander and Lady Camilla have returned."

Whether it was the rise in the room's mood or the soaring of his stomach that sent Leo straight to his feet, he didn't know. Before he knew it, before he could even think what he was doing, he was charging to the castle gates behind his sisters almost too fast for his feet to carry him.

Corrin reached the main door first, heaving it open with both hands and throwing it back. Her panting breaths slipped out of an open-mouth smile that spread from ear to ear. Leo hadn't realized until that moment when he ran out the door behind Corrin with Elise right at his heels, but he wore a smile just as large.

Sunlight flooded into his eyes as he exited the fortress, and right ahead of him at the castle gates, he could see them. Two figures, bright blonde hair and waves of lilac, fine black armor and two familiar faces.

His brother and sister had made it back.

"They're back!" Corrin called, overjoyed and sounding as though she hadn't quite believed it until just then.

Elise ran as fast as she could on her short little legs, bounding straight for her beloved siblings, calling their names and sounding on the verge of happy tears. Though Leo was still overjoyed to see them after two weeks, he was rather used to them leaving every so often. Elise, on the other hand, still had trouble adjusting to it, and she'd missed them terribly.

Corrin reached the gates before either of her younger siblings, and without so much as stopping or slowing down she ran straight to Xander's arms. A small, endeared grunt was pushed out of his mouth as she thudded against his armor.

"We missed you!" she said with relief to see the two of them as his arms embraced her back. Camilla stroked her hair from Xander's side, stopping only when Elise's arms suddenly wrapped around her legs.

Leo, however, stopped short, his feet slowing to a stop just behind his siblings. Something was… off. Why did Xander's brow look so furrowed? Why was Camilla not planting kisses on Elise's cheeks? For such a happy reunion, they seemed so muted.

"Oh, we missed you too," said Camilla, but her voice was barely breaking a whisper. Her hand gently stroked Elise's hair just as she'd done to Corrin - such a mild reaction by her standards.

Leo felt his stomach seize, and glee quickly turned to worry.

"Xander?" He looked to his brother with concern to judge his behavior. "Is everything alright?"

Corrin pulled back from her older brother's hug to look him in the eyes as well. She was met with a rather pathetic attempt at a smile, and in that moment, it seemed to dawn on her, too, that something was amiss.

"The battle went well, didn't it?" she asked, clearly afraid to hear the answer.

Xander began slowly, his voice steady and calm as ever, but his face betrayed pain. "We... were successful in our mission."

The three younger siblings all waited on bated breath, the collective anticipation of a forthcoming "but" grabbing hold of their very lungs.

"However…"

And there it was. But Leo's chest still remained tight. They had won, hadn't they? What could've gone wrong?

Camilla took the liberty of finishing Xander's thought.

"We were outnumbered," she stated with heavy voice. Her eyes closed as if remembering something painful, and she drew Elise closer to her, seeking some form of comfort in her baby sister. "By the time their Sky Knights arrived..."

A heavy silence followed, and Leo realized just what his older siblings' words entailed. They'd carried out their mission - whatever it may have exactly been - just as Xander had said, but the battle must've just barely ended in victory. They'd suffered losses - large ones.

Xander lowered Corrin's arms from his sides as he nudged her away. With a dampened form of his familiar authority, he suggested they move their conversation indoors. Thereafter, he turned his attention to his youngest sister.

"Elise," he began as gently as he could. "Why don't you run along and play?"

Leo knew there was no need for Elise to hear whatever retelling of the battle that his older siblings were preparing, but he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her when her face sank.

"But..." She began to protest, but didn't seem to have many words to do so. She only looked with disappointed, pleading eyes from Xander to Camilla.

"Everything's fine, darling," Camilla assured her, though the low tone of her voice said otherwise. She knelt down to Elise's level and pulled something out of a pouch at her side. "Look what I brought you. It's a pegasus feather, see? Don't you think it's pretty?"

Elise slowly took the pure white feather from Camilla's hand, but her voice still hesitated. She was young, but even she knew when someone was trying to distract her. "... Mhm."

"Listen to Xander and run along. You don't want to hear our dreary stories." A small smile crossed Camilla's lips as she lovingly brushed her sister's fringe off her forehead. "I'm sure the maids would like to see your feather."

Elise nodded and slowly made her way back to the gates, leaving her siblings silently watching behind her. It seemed no one quite knew what to say, even though Leo, at least, was dying to know what had gone wrong on the eastern front.

Once Elise had disappeared into the fortress' front door, Xander spoke up after a deep breath. "Shall we?"

Quietly, the four siblings made their way across the grounds. Camilla eventually took hold of Corrin's hand, and Leo drifted closer to Xander's side as they walked. But the sun which had seemed so cheery mere moments ago now seemed so much dimmer.

* * *

It wasn't wasn't to be believed.

Three quarters of the platoon wiped out. Thousands of Nohrian soldiers fallen to the Hoshidans over nothing more than a simple territorial dispute. The flying wyvern units: all but decimated. Camilla's wyvern, her beloved Zisa: killed by a pegasus knight.

But the worst of it all, what hit Leo the hardest, was Xander's retainers: fallen trying to protect him.

Adrian and Alma were… gone. It seemed just yesterday that Adrian had been poking fun at him as he sparring with Xander, that Alma had accompanied him to the stables and given him a riding lesson. They were so strong, the both of them. They were such hard workers, so dedicated to their crafts. They'd put in the training, so how could they have been bested? It simply didn't seem right…

Based on the hollow look in Xander's eyes as he recounted the story to Corrin and Leo, a part of him thought the same.

"They're really… gone?" Corrin asked, her eyes slowly beginning to brim with tears.

Xander nodded solemnly, and Camilla excused herself, talk of the battle clearly bringing close to crying herself.

"We went back to look for them afterwards, and we wanted to find Camilla's wyvern as well," explained Xander as the door closed behind his sister with a soft thud. "The wyvern we found. But.. neither Adrian nor Alma."

Leo said nothing. He tried his hardest to keep the images from his mind of blood seeping from Adrian's chest, of Alma's body mangled and abandoned on a battlefield, her beautiful face contorted with pain or worse…

Gods above… it could've been Xander or Camilla in their place. And that thought scared him - and he imagined Corrin, as well - more than the reality of losing the first object of his childish affections. He knew death was a reality of war, but he never imagined it striking so close to him. He never imagined it hitting Xander's retainers above all others. Xander was… invincible. How could _he_ have needed protection, let alone in the form of human life?

Leo and Corrin both were stunned to silence, so Xander continued.

"I brought something back for each of you from the battlefield," he said, pushing forward, brushing past the subject for the time being. He arose from where he sat on a sofa across from Corrin and Leo, his legs looking as though they were having trouble holding up his limbs. "Wait here."

He exited the room, leaving Leo and Corrin behind in silence.

What could Leo say to his sister? What was there to say that could do the situation any justice?

He looked to his right and saw her with her arms clutching her stomach, slightly bent over in her chair as a tear slipped from her eye. She had never received the same teachings as her siblings - or as all Nohrians, for that matter - never learned how harsh the reality of war could be.

Leo could almost hear the words of his tutor, telling him that the greatest thing a man of Nohr could do was bring glory to his country, and a death on the battlefield was a death with glory. He could hear the murmurings of those in the castle who'd lost their sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, saying, "At least they died with glory to their name." Death had surrounded him all his life, from relatives of Krakenburg's residents to his own mother.

It hurt now to lose those he knew personally, to know they'd fallen to the enemy, but a part of him was still there to whisper that comfort to his heart: _At least they died with glory to their name. An end comes for everyone._

But Corrin didn't have that voice in her. The sheltered princess, the perfect model of purity, had never seen her mother on her deathbed. She'd never heard the wails of a mother whose son had been lost to the Hoshidans, nor the angry shouts of a father whose daughter was beaten to death by a thug on the streets. Whole families lived at the Northern Fortress, and there they stayed. Those who had children stayed put within the stone walls, and those who'd lost their families had lost them in the past. In twelve years, Corrin had never been directly confronted with death. Until now.

Leo was almost jealous of her innocence. He wished he could cry for his brother's fallen retainers, two honorable soldiers who he may even have called his friends if he'd grown old enough to fight alongside them. But all he could do was remained silent.

There wasn't a word he could say to her that could change a single thing.

And so they waited in that heavy silence for their brother's return. The sounds of maids shuffling in the halls flooded in along with the occasional opening or closing of a door somewhere nearby, but they were merely background noise to the ticking of the clock within the room where Corrin and Leo sat. Ticking, ticking, ticking, and hypnotising the youngest prince until his mind was empty as his mouth.

After who knew how much time, Xander returned through the door with two items in his hands: a sword and a small wooden box.

He closed the oaken door behind him and took a couple of steps towards his siblings to sit before them on the edge of a small table. Leo tensed in his seat as his brother held out the wooden box to him, his other hand offering the sword to Corrin.

"Corrin, Leo. These are for you," he said simply.

Leo observed the foreign script on the box, boxes and lines burned into the wood and forming characters. One side of the box was loose, and Leo nudged it with his thumb to find it slid open. Within it lay thin, elegant object like the folds of a fan, each thin strip of wood decorated with ink scribblings of the same foreign script as the box and drawings of tigers.

"This is... a Hoshidan scroll," Leo realized, his voice equal parts curious and amazed. Where had Xander…

"Are these from the fallen soldiers?" Corrin beat him to the now-obvious conclusion.

Oh.

The scroll felt a bit heavier in his hands, and his eyes began to search it for blood before he could even stop them.

"Yes," answered Xander shortly, his voice a bit quieter than before.

Corrin's hands fell away from her sword as though burned. With an expression of disbelief and horror, she cried, "I can't use this!"

"Corrin-" Xander tried to reason with her.

"Someone died so that this could be taken!"

"He didn't die." Xander's voice remained level, but he grabbed both of his sibling's attention in an instant. 'He didn't die?' He went on to explain, "He was one of the Hoshidan survivors we found. He laid down his weapons, and I let him go."

Leo's immediate reaction was one of shock. "What? Why?" he blurted out, confused, almost a bit angry. One doesn't show mercy on the battlefield - that's what Leo had learned. How could Xander so blatantly disregard their teachings? "He was the enemy, and you just let him go! Why?"

"Because, Leo." Xander let out a barely-perceptible sigh and said with certainty, "Sometimes the only thing more dishonorable than a defeat is revenge through disgraceful means. Killing an unarmed man is too low for the Nohrian royals."

Since when was Xander in charge of the family standards?

But then again… Leo tried to picture in his mind's eye a soldier before him, bent on his knees, his weapons surrendered. If that soldier - unarmed and helpless - were to beg Leo to spare his life… He wouldn't have the strength to cut him down anyway.

Xander spoke up once more as Corrin and Leo let his words sink in. "I want you two to remember that when you look at these weapons. There is a line to tread between mercy and ruthlessness. Be ruthless in battle. Fight with all you have, and grant the enemy no mercy. But when all is over, you must accept the outcome with dignity and behave accordingly. Keep your head held high, your heart steady, and your sword stilled until the time comes for you to redeem yourself properly."

A head held high, a steady heart. Leo understood these aspects. One couldn't allow oneself to be conquered by shame or plagued with doubt, even if close comrades have been lost. Even if they fell to protect you.

But a stilled sword… If there is still a chance to make even the smallest dent in the enemy forces, should it not be taken?

"Above all else," Xander began, solemn but certain. What followed left Leo utterly confused.

"You must maintain your honor."

* * *

The five siblings spent that night in the Northern Fortress, scheduled to head back to Windmire the following morning. Well, as the moon rose and the sky grew darker and darker, morning was only growing closer. Sleep, however, was evading the second prince of Nohr.

Leo lay wide awake in his bed, his stomach still fluttering with a peculiar discomfort. It wasn't unfamiliarity making uneasy; he'd spent many nights in this very room, resting under the same down covers, the same stone walls and red carpets around him. No, it wasn't unfamiliarity, nor was it fear of the dark, fear of nightmares, nor a ludicrous suspicion that mogalls were under his bed.

It was the wooden box - the scroll - on his bedside table.

It stared at him, its wood reflecting the light of the moon. Dark black Hoshidan characters looked him in the face, though he couldn't understand their meaning. But what kept him awake, what circled through his mind over and over like a riddle he couldn't crack were Xander's words:

 _"Remember that when you look at these weapons. There is a line to tread between mercy and ruthlessness. You must maintain your honor."_

He wanted to understand. He wanted to be honorable, but how was letting a danger to your country go anything worthy of honor? Wasn't a soldier's job to protect Nohr from any and all threats? How could he look at that scroll, knowing that the man who once held it was still out there and ready to fight again, and see the man who'd let him go as honorable?

A clang sounded from outside his window. A sword.

Leo slowly pulled his covers away and paced across the cold floor to the window panes. Below, on top of one of the tall towers of the fortress, was Xander, sword in hand and striking a practice dummy. He watched him for a few moments, every so often hearing another clang as his sword hit the dummy's pole. Something in his strikes seemed much more aggressive than when they would spar together, but perhaps it was simply Leo's clouded, sleep-deprived imagination.

As quietly as he could, Leo slipped on his house shoes, put on his jacket, and sneaked out of his room. Tiptoeing through the fortress, careful not to draw the attention of the night guards, he made his way to his older brother. He wouldn't have fallen asleep anyway.

Cold night air met his face when he finally exited the door to the tower where Xander was practicing. His brother still hadn't noticed his, so he tentatively closed the door and made his way to the center of the tower's roof.

"Xander?" Leo called quietly. Though it was dark, he could see Xander's eyes snap to attention as his head turned to face him.

"Leo?" Xander sounded tired, groggy. His sword fell to his side as Leo approached him. "What are you still doing awake?"

"I couldn't sleep," explained Leo. When Xander remained silent, sensing the coming explanation, Leo continued. "I still don't understand why you didn't cut down that soldier." His voice was rather quiet, unsure, but it grew more desperate as his thoughts from the evening began to resurface. "Wasn't the mission to wipe out the Hoshidan force? You still had a chance to get closer to the goal, even if you couldn't complete it entirely! Why didn't you?"

Xander's clutched tightened on the grip of his sword. "The mission was to take out their commander, which we did manage." His eyes hardened as they often did, and his brow lowered.

"But Father-"

"Father's orders were to take out the commander, nothing more. We managed that, despite our losses." An edge entered Xander's voice at the mention of their father, but he continued nonetheless. "There was no good reason to kill a survivor on the battlefield who'd turned over his weapons. Our orders were not take as many lives as possible, regardless of how it may have benefitted us."

So many conflicting ideals began to battle in Leo's head again. Is it right to kill a soldier even if it isn't a direct order? Orders or logic? Is it right to show mercy to an enemy to whom you'd just shown none on the battlefield? Mercy or ruthlessness?

"You'll be joining us in battle in a few years, Leo," said Xander, not condescendingly, but rather… sympathetic. "It _is_ important to follow orders to the fullest of your ability. Fight for glory, fight for your country, but when the day is done, Leo, you must never forget to fight to maintain your honor. Fight to maintain your humanity."

Glory and battle… honor and humanity.

In just one night, war had gone from something so simple, so straightforward - kill the enemy and bring glory to your name - to juggling act. How would he know when to show mercy? War didn't halt at the end of a battle, so when did the enemy go from a soldier to a human?

What if he never found out? What if he became a coward who never killed, or worse, a monster who did nothing but?

"How will I know...?" Leo couldn't find the words to ask it all at once, but he looked to his brother for all the answers nonetheless.

"You'll know." Xander smiled a weak smile and place a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "You're a prince of Nohr. Honor is in our blood. When the time comes, you'll know the right thing to do."

Though Leo wasn't quite satisfied with waiting until his fourteenth year to find the answers to his questions, seeing Xander smile at him set him a bit at ease. And his words did have a ring of truth to them. He was a proud prince of Nohr, and he would know how to behave like one when the time came.

"Now either go to bed or grab a sword."

* * *

Eventually, Leo's time came - the day he'd learn to walk Xander's alleged line between mercy and ruthlessness. He'd turned fourteen, he'd trained and studied diligently to do his country and his family proud on the battlefield, and in mere moments he'd be on his first march to the east.

Now, it was his turn to be the one to leave Windmire and the Northern Fortress rather than stay behind. Now, he was part of Xander and Camilla's group, and when they began to bid their goodbyes at the fortress gates, only Corrin and Elise would be staying behind.

As Elise let herself be doted on by Camilla and Xander, chatting with them and their retainers, Leo and Corrin stayed to the side. Corrin took a deep breath, looked her brother up and down, and finally pulled him into a hug.

"Are you scared?" she asked him.

"No," answered Leo. His sister gave him a disbelieving look, arching one pale eyebrow up her forehead. He chuckled a bit, trying to ignore the slight, oncoming feeling of butterflies in his stomach. "Really!"

Corrin shook her head and smirked, reaching up to rub his hair affectionately. Leo cried out a bit too loud and swatted her hand away; he couldn't be seen looking like the baby brother of the family in front of the brand new retainers! Especially not when one of them was - unfortunately - his own. Corrin simply laughed, her eyes looking on his just like they did when they were children: taking in the world and the people around her, committing them to memory, happy.

That glance almost made him glad she wouldn't be joining him on the battlefield. It was nice to have a sister who could still be… pure. Like Elise, but with a disposition less built on naivety. It made him feel like a better person by extension.

Before he got a chance to bid her a final goodbye, Corrin took a few steps backwards into the foyer. She reached for a wooden sideboard where a dark blue book rested on top, and she took the book into her hands.

"I got you something," she said, soft and serious. "Esme was going into town and I asked her to get me a special tome for you. I don't know if it's very powerful, but... here."

Her arms extended the tome to her brother, which he gingerly took into his hands. He let his gloves run over the dark blue cover, the silver detailing. On the front stood a design of three diamonds and above them, the word _Fimbulvetr._

Leo's eyes widened at the sight, his heart even beating a bit faster in his chest.

"Corrin, this is a powerful tome!" he exclaimed. It was the most powerful one he'd owned so far, only having used variations of fire and thunder spells thus far. "How did you get the money for this?"

"It doesn't matter." Corrin dodged the question, shaking her head and turning up the corners of her lips. "I just wanted you to have something to hold onto out there. To call you back home and remind you of your siblings. Don't forget everything you've learned, and don't forget that Elise and I are waiting here for you, no matter what."

He looked at the tome once more, making a mental note to think of Corrin and Elise when he saw it. He flashed back to years before, when he looked at a Hoshidan scroll and was reminded of the enemy soldier who'd given it up in exchange for his life. _"Fight for humanity"_ Xander had told him the day he'd given Leo that scroll.

Well, Corrin and Elise could be his tie to his humanity. He'd fight to protect their freedom in Nohr, but maybe when he thought of the innocence in them, maybe when he thought of someone trying to decide whether or not to show them mercy, he'd feel some mercy in himself as well. When the time was right.

He only hoped he'd know when the right time would be.

Corrin pulled him into one last hug before he went off with Camilla and Xander. Tome in hand, he hugged her back and heard her whisper in his ear, "Be careful. I know how strong you are, but even you aren't invincible."

It was nice to hear her faith in him, but a harrowing reminder of the things he'd learned over the years. No man in the world was invincible…

"I love you."

* * *

"Leo, I'll head straight for the commanding officers." Xander's voice rang over the noise of the oncoming Hoshidans and the Norhians preparing for the impending attack. Leo found himself snapped from his memories, and he quickly found his ears in tune to his brother's words. "I want you to stay near the middle of the pack. Stay near Odin, behind the knights."

 _Middle of the pack. Behind the knights,_ Leo repeated to himself for safety. "Okay," he replied dutifully, too tense to say much more.

"Don't waste your energy trying to fell as many as you can," continued Xander from atop his horse. He sounded so calm, so assured, so proud. Like a true prince of Nohr. Leo subconsciously tried to straighten his back, squaring his shoulders to follow his brother's suit.

"Stay concentrated, focus on the enemies around you and those closest to you. There's no glory in killing a thousand only to become so weak you can't protect the man next to you."

"Understood."

Xander then turned to his retainers. "Peri, as always, the same goes for you. Laslow, you and Peri watch each other. Camilla..."

"Don't worry about me, dear brother. I've got Selena and Beruka here to watch over me," Camilla purred as her retainers readied their weapons behind her. "And meanwhile, I'll be free to land my axe on some Sky Knights. Isn't that right, Zisa?"

She ran her hand along her malig's side - her beloved wyvern resurrected after falling in the battle that had taken Xander's first retainers. A purr was elicited from the large beast as though it were just as excited for revenge as its rider. Camilla mounted her saddle, and Leo could almost feel the bloodlust that he could see in her eyes. Not for the first time, he realized how truly threatening his eldest sister could be.

And he… Well, he had his tome and his magic. He could be a threat all his own.

He ran a hand over the tome Corrin had given him, and she and Elise came to mind just as she'd hoped they would. Cracking open the cover, he was shocked to see a signature on the front page.

On the right edge was rather sloppy calligraphy. The name _Elise_ was scrawled on the page with too much ink, and Leo smiled to himself as he thought of his youngest sister. Years had passed, yet she'd somehow remained a small child.

In the center of the page, however, was clean handwriting - clearly Corrin's - with a message that brought him years back.

He remembered sitting on a sofa with Corrin, a book about Hoshido on their laps between them. He remember something of a spat between them: honor and glory.

 _Fight without mercy._ _Bring glory by means of honor._ _誉れ homare – honor and glory. Two sides of the same coin._

 _I would say "I was right", but that would only drive you to prove me wrong again!_

 _Remember these words, remember all Xander's taught us, and remember all you learned from your favorite big sister. No, I do not mean Camilla!_

 _You'll do well, Leo. I can just feel it. But do well the right way._

 _Until you return,_

 _-Corrin_

His sister's note brought forth not only memories of her argument that day - that there is glory in fighting honorably - but also of Xander's words to him years before. Fight ruthlessly for glory, win or lose with honor.

The troops ahead of him began to rush forth as the Hoshidan army came within range. The whole platoon was like a tide rushing to shore, and Leo began to flow with it. tome in hand he charged forward, taking his place beside Odin and behind the knights.

He shot precisely, thinking of their orders to take out the commander. Xander would reach the leader soon enough. Until then, Leo would fight as best he could. He'd show everyone just how good a prince he could be, ensure their victory, but not like a common savage.

He'd bring glory to their names, but he'd bring it through pride, through strength and skill. And when Xander had taken out the commander, he'd accept the win with grace.

With honor. With… _homare_.

He'd have to tell Corrin he'd thought about that when they went back to the Northern Fortress, this time returning as victors.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _"Contemptible fool. This may be our father's way, but it is not ours. [...] You are a mockery and a disgrace. It sickens me to think there are rats like you tainting our kingdom's grand legacy. Impersonating a peaceful leader to trick the Hoshidans into letting their guard down... That's a coward's game."_

 _-Leo to Zola, Conquest Chapter 18_

Leo's got some legit honor, as does Xander. Nohrians are ruthless, but you see plenty of evidence that the princes do hold themselves to a high moral standard. Even if their characterizations can be riddled with inconsistencies (I'm looking at you, Xander).

The whole comet shower story is actually very loosely based on the drama CD. Leo wants to take Corrin to see the meteors, but he actually does sneak her out of the fortress. It's really good if you haven't read the translation already! We see Charlotte, Flora dresses up as Corrin, Xander decks Leo in the face. It's awesome.

As always, thank you to the crazy beta for correcting my grammar and catching the typos and other stupid mistakes I make when I'm writing half-asleep ;)


	4. Elise

_"Well, I know what we're facing. I know I shouldn't waste time playing around. [...] But I can't help but want to help everyone smile as much as they possibly can. And sometimes I think if we all played just a little bit more then maybe it would help. I don't know. It just doesn't seem right when nobody looks happy."_

 _-Elise, A-Support with Jakob_

* * *

 _And yet somehow - deep down - you knew._

* * *

Stupid Father. Stupid war! Stupid Iago and his stupid meetings!

It was already three hours past sunrise, and the only two words Elise had heard so far were "Run along" when she tried to see her father in the council room.

Those weren't exactly the two words she was hoping to hear on her birthday.

All she'd wanted was a birthday wish from her father. What did those guards have to send her away for? Why hadn't Father even taken the morning free? Why hadn't _anyone_ taken the morning free? It wasn't every day the youngest princess turned five years old! Didn't anyone remember?

Elise roamed the halls of Castle Krakenburg alone, save for the maids that passed her, sheets or feather dusters or trays of food in their hands as they ran their morning routines. Elise would've liked to go with one of them and help out - if only so she had something to do - but they never seemed to want her help. Well, and the head of housekeeping had once told her to stop asking…

So who could she talk to? Camilla was at one of her lessons, Leo too. Xander was probably in the war meeting with Father and everyone else. She was too scared to ask to see her mother in the infirmary, and even Cassita was too busy this morning! Perhaps she could ask one of the coachmen to take her to Corrin's fortress!

However, that idea quickly found its end when she remembered she would need someone's permission to be taken.

Fed up, Elise let out a pout and flopped onto the ground next to an end table in the hallway. She wished she could pull one of the red tapestries off the wall and hide beneath it, but she'd probably get in trouble if she did that again.

So instead, she settled for curling her knees up to her chin and burying her face in them. She covered her eyes with her hands, and all at once the whole world was blackened out. Now, she wouldn't have to see anyone. Better yet, no one could ignore her. They couldn't ignore someone they couldn't see! And if she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her, right?

As she hid, Elise began to hum one of the tunes her violin teacher had been teaching her. She rocked back and forth to the melody, trying to soothe herself. So her music lessons _were_ good for more than making her into a "proper lady."

"Laa laa laa," Elise began to quietly sing out loud. She felt her lip began to shake, but she didn't want to cry, so on she made herself sing. "Lala lala laa…"

From down the hallway, the sound of footsteps drifted into her ears. Elise constricted herself tighter and cut her singing off in an instant.

No one could see her, no one could see her...

"Elise?"

Unbelievable… They'd found her! The young princess' head shot up from her knees, eyes wide to see none other than Xander standing above her, staring at her expectantly.

"What are you doing down there?"

Elise couldn't tell if her stomach was sinking because she'd been found or rising at the joy of seeing Xander.

"How did you see me?" she asked with wide, amethyst eyes full of disbelief.

Xander knelt down on one knee before his sister, a gentle smile on his face. "I always have an eye on you, little one," he said, placing his hand on her head.

Elise pouted a bit as he rubbed her hair. She didn't want to talk to anyone, not really. He hadn't told her "happy birthday" yet either. Even he didn't seem to remember…

"What's wrong, Elise?"

"Nothing," she answered plainly. She didn't want to remind anyone of her own special day or make them feel bad. It would be too embarrassing. Xander still stared her down like he knew she was lying. Elise simply widened her eyes innocently and pretended not to notice.

But her older brother's gaze wouldn't relent. Elise felt herself growing nervous, worried he would press the issue further, but his brows eventually raised again, and he moved to grasp her hand in his own.

"I'm not needed at the war meeting today," Xander told her, squeezing her hand in his larger one. "Why don't you join me to Corrin's fortress, hm?"

Though she'd just had that thought herself not moments ago, the idea simply didn't seem as exciting anymore. Soft but stubborn, Elise replied, "I don't want to."

"You don't want to?" asked Xander, his tone gently nudging at his sister's stubbornness. His chocolate eyes locked in on her, soft but speculative. "You always love visiting Corrin. And I'm sure she'd be happy to see you."

Elise supposed it wouldn't be the worst to go… In any case, it would be better than spending her birthday wallowing in the dark, depressing castle.

Before she got the chance to speak up and accept the offer, Xander had made the decision for her. He stood up with a smile and offered, "Come on. I'll let you ride on my back on the way to the carriage. What do you say?"

A small smile finally cracked Elise's face. Especially if he was offering a piggyback ride, it wasn't as though she could say no!

She remained on the ground but held her hands up high to Xander, hopeful that he'd pick her up. Not quite, but instead he did what he so often did: He took her tightly by the hands and pulled her to her feet, enough extra force to make sure he could lift her into the air as she bounced up before standing solid. That never failed to pull a delighted laugh from Elise.

Once Elise was steady on her feet, Xander turned and knelt a bit, allowing her to climb onto his back. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he hoisted her up, supporting her legs as they began to make their way through the halls.

Elise still wasn't feeling particularly talkative despite the slight boost in mood. She was thankful that Xander didn't try to force her to speak up. It was a few minutes before they even spoke at all.

"You know," Xander began as they began ascending one of the stone staircases to the surface of the city. "Father used to carry me around like this when I was your age."

Father? _Their_ father? Elise thought of the scary man in the throne room with his deep voice and deeper frown, and she couldn't believe her ears.

"Really?" she asked with amazement.

Xander replied with a warm 'mhm'.

Elise let the thought sink in for a moment, and her heart was quick to sink as well. "He never gives me piggyback rides." She rested her head against Xander's, disappointed. Father never did much of _anything_ with her… He never played with her, he never took her by the hand and lead her through the castle as she told her stories from the day. That was all Xander and Camilla.

"Yes, well… Father's changed since I was young." Xander's voice remained level, but Elise could sense a small shift in his mood. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone as he assured her, "Ah, well. You have me to do the job now, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Elise with a calm smile as she nuzzled her cheek closer to her brother's neck.

She loved her time with Xander. He always made sure to pay attention to her. When the others were off at their lessons and training, he'd try to find time in his schedule to play with her for a few minutes. He always asked her about her day when he had the time. He gave her piggyback rides and he always smelled like soap, which was a nice bonus.

"Hey Xander?" Elise spoke up. She still had another question. As much as she loved spending time with her brother - and with the others, for that matter… "Why is Father always in those meetings?"

Elise always felt from the way Xander, Camilla and Leo talked so fondly about their father that she must've been missing something. He was always too busy for her, it seemed. The only one who said the same was Corrin, but that was because she lived so far away! Elise was in the castle all the time… Father's meetings must've been really important if they meant he had no time for her.

Xander's answer came a bit delayed, but still level-headed. "It's complicated, Elise," he told her. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Oh… Okay."

She might not have needed to, but since she hadn't even seen her father on her birthday yet, she still did.

* * *

One carriage ride later, the sun was up for its scant hours in the sky, hidden behind the clouds, and Xander and Elise found themselves approaching the front doors of the Northern Fortress.

Xander had kept the conversation going along the ride, but Elise's spirits were still rather dampened. She was simply eager to reach the fortress, desperately wanting to see her big sister.

The second they banged the knockers on the front door, it creaked open from within. Xander nudged Elise forward, where she was met from behind the door by Corrin, a huge smile on her face and her eyes excited.

And… was that Leo behind her?

"There she is!" cried Corrin excitedly. "The birthday girl!"

Elise's mind slowed to a stop as both Corrin and Leo moved in towards her. "Huh…?"

"Happy birthday, Elise," Leo told her with a smile and a pat on the head.

In a whirlwind, Corrin picked her up under the arms and hugged her close to her chest. The next thing Elise knew, she was being spun around in a circle, and a laugh was bubbling out of her chest.

"Now, now, enough of the spinning!" came a third voice, low and familiar. Corrin slowed to a halt, and Elise looked up to see Camilla standing in the doorway to the dining room. In her hands was something that sent the youngest princess' mouth watering. "You don't want to knock the cake to the ground, do you?"

She almost couldn't believe it! All that time she'd spent feeling so sad and forgotten…

"You remembered my birthday!" she called happily, hugging herself closer to Corrin.

"Of course we did!" replied Camilla with a laugh. "You didn't really think we'd spend our whole day in lessons when our little darling is turning five years old, did you?"

"I hope Xander didn't spoil the surprise on the ride here," Leo said with a half-joking side eye to his elder brother.

Xander chuckled as he brought a hand to Elise's head, rubbing her blonde waves back and forth. "My lips were sealed."

"Elise," Corrin grabbed her younger sister's attention. Her eyes were excited and playful as she pressed her forehead to Elise's. "Why don't we head to the dining room, huh? You can eat your cake, and there _may_ be some presents in there for you…"

Elise let out an excited gasp through a wide smile. An hour ago, she'd barely had a birthday. Now, she had a birthday, a cake _and_ presents!

And most importantly, she had her siblings. Each and every one of them were around her and smiling. In hindsight, she didn't know how she could've thought they'd forget about her. They were always there to make her happy.

* * *

It was almost sundown, the few hours of Nohrian sunlight already coming to a close as the shadows across the training grounds grew longer. Even after a full day in the fortress, Elise was _still_ desperate for someone to play with.

Leo had told her the shooting grounds were too dangerous for her when he'd been practicing magic with the archers and mages, and he'd told her to go away. Camilla had said she'd needed to train seriously today, and they couldn't take a joy ride on Zisa this time. None of the maids had wanted to hide nor seek nor do anything else resembling fun. Even Flora and Felicia, who she could always talk into a game, were too wrapped up in tending the fireplaces.

That left the youngest princess only the option of watching Xander and Corrin as they trained.

Elise sat on the grass, the green blades turning dry and brown as winter approached, against the fortress wall as her two older siblings sparred. Her dress was a bit dirty, and the cold breeze was blowing her hair into tangles. None of it bothered her, though, as she watched the swordplay from across the grounds with half-fascinated eyes.

Xander would make a lunge at Corrin, and she'd try to deflect the strike with her blade. They'd stop, lower their swords, Xander would give her some more instructions and pointers, and they'd try again.

As awe struck as Elise sometimes was by her weapon wielding siblings - by how strong and skilled they were - she much preferred watching Leo train. She loved the pretty designs his magic could make, the symbols in his tomes. She could spend days just reading them, pretending to understand them and cast brilliant spells just like the wizards in her fairy tale books.

As cool as her oldest siblings were, she would never take one of their big swords or axes to play with. Too boring! She loved the old Ember tome she'd snuck out of Leo's collection far more.

Hopefully he would never find out about that…

In the distance, Xander finally lowered his sword as Corrin did the same. At last, they were finished! Elise felt her heart leap as she sprung to her feet.

"You did well today, little princess," Elise heard Xander say. Corrin barely responded though, her eyes on the ground as she sheathed her sword. Xander placed a strong hand on her shoulder and assured her, "You're improving by leaps and bounds."

The two elder siblings began to make their way towards Elise, and she watched them with hopeful eyes, waiting for one of them to notice her.

"Silas said he was able to perform all four _prise de fer_ perfectly by the time he was ten!" Corrin declared loudly with a disappointed look on her face.

Xander shot back with an amused smirk on his lips, "Was Camilla in the room when he said that?"

Corrin thought about it for a moment and replied, "Yes. Why?"

"Fancy that…"

Now, Elise didn't know what a _"_ prise de fer _"_ was, nor why Silas would tell everyone he could do four of them. Especially in front of Camilla.

But she did know Corrin, and she knew when her voice got tighter, louder, and her lips began to pout that she was upset. Elise hated it when her siblings were upset… They'd barely speak to her or one another, they'd sometimes yell, and they wouldn't even smile. The thing she liked best about her brothers and sisters was how they'd smile! She saw enough anger and heard enough yelling at home in Clarkenstein...

Before she could even make up her mind to, Elise left her spot on the wall and ran straight for her older sister. Corrin and Xander still hadn't seen her, but she didn't care. She could be a nice surprise for them at the end of their lessons!

"Xander! Corrin!" she called out happily, not too far from them now.

The two looked up at her, expressions of mixed surprise and happiness on their faces. Corrin's brows still remained knitted as they raised up her forehead, though. That was nothing Elise couldn't fix.

"Oof!"

As Elise ran full force into legs, Corrin keeled forward. The younger buried her head into her older sister's stomach as her arms locked tightly around her waist. Corrin chuckled and, once she'd settled from the shock, took her baby sister into a gentle hug. "Elise! Hi."

Her voice was sounding lighter already! That was a relief.

"I missed you!" Elise declared into Corrin's stomach. She raised her head to speak more, but never eased her arms hugging Corrin. "Leo wouldn't let me watch him train, and Camilla's been gone with Zisa all day.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Corrin brushed some of the hair out of Elise's face. Her little sister was happy to see that the traces of disappointment were all but gone, and her older sister's voice was soft and friendly again.

"Will you two play with me?"

"Of course," replied Corrin on behalf of her and Xander both.

Xander finally spoke up from their sides once Elise let go of Corrin. "Let's get you back inside, first," he told Elise, placing a hand on her head. A pause followed, after which he tilted her head upwards to look him in the eyes. Chidingly, he asked, "Where is your coat, little one?"

Elise looked guiltily at her arms, covered only by her dress. It was a thick, winter dress to be fair! But she was admittedly a bit cold in the chilly air.

"It's inside…" Elise whispered guiltily.

"Inside?" Xander repeated in a tone that Elise couldn't tell if it was serious or not.

Just as she began to put on her "sweet face", as Corrin called it - the one with a pouting lip and widened eyes that she used to keep from getting in too much trouble - Xander's hand left her head.

"Well, I'm sure that poor coat is missing you by now!"

Before she knew it, she was scooped off her feet by Xander's arms then pinned to his side by only one. Elise let out a squeal of delight and began laughing as her brother flipped her around between his arms.

"Don't let Camilla see you!" Corrin jumped in with a chuckle as Xander held Elise upside down. "You know that makes her crazy with worry."

Xander flipped Elise right-side up again, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back a bit tighter to his chest. "Ah, what Camilla doesn't know won't hurt her. Right, Elise?"

"Yeah!" Elise exclaimed happily, a smile threatening to split her cheeks wide open. She did like it when Xander was in a good mood like this.

Just when she wanted to begin toying with his hair, though, she found herself being set back on the ground. When she looked up at Corrin, standing at their sides, she found her older sister was smiling now. Just a little bit, but it spread to her eyes and made them crinkle and shine.

Her mission was a success! Even a small smile was a good sign. Everything was all right again.

"I'll race you back to the house!" Elise declared excitedly, not sure who she wanted to take up the offer. Either way, she was eager to run no matter who was with her.

With a little jump, she turned and began to run as fast as her little legs would carry her back towards the fortress, her feet hitting the hard ground and the wind making her eyes water. None of it could stop her, though. And it didn't take long before she felt a hand take hers and heard two feet running beside her.

She looked up and saw Corrin, her lips finally pulled all the way back into a bright beam. A laugh came from all the way down in her stomach as she held tight to Elise's hand and urged her to run faster, faster! "Come on, Elise!"

Elise giggled even harder as they neared the fortress together, the warm lights within growing brighter and the smokey smell of the chimneys reaching their noses.

She squeezed Corrin's hand even tighter, the familiar feeling of wind rushing through her hair making her feel like she was flying. _This_ \- the time with her siblings, where she was allowed to run and play and laugh - was why she loved coming to the fortress. This was what she'd been waiting all day for.

* * *

Corrin was with Elise again that night, wrapping her younger sister in her arms as they rested on her bed at bedtime.

Elise was disappointed that her other three siblings all had things to do the following morning, otherwise they would have been able to stay overnight in the fortress as well. When that happened, Camilla would join her and Corrin in Corrin's room and sing to them, Xander would carry her off to her own bed in one of the guest chambers. In the morning, she - and sometimes Corrin - would join Leo for breakfast, since they were always the earliest to rise.

But alone time with Corrin wasn't bad either. She'd already read her a story, and they now rested on top of the covers, looking out at the darkness through the windows and chatting themselves to sleep. As Elise laid down, her head resting on Corrin's stomach, her sister began to stroke her eyebrows.

Elise hummed, the soft fingers on her face soothing her into a daze. She nuzzled into Corrin's stomach, letting her eyes fall shut as she smiled sleepily.

"You know," Corrin began gently. The wild laughter of that afternoon had died down, and her voice was now calm and fond. "Camilla used to put me to sleep like this all the time. She'd stroke my head, sing me lullabies until I fell right to sleep on her lap. And we'd talk about all the places we'd go together… All the things she'd show me and buy me..."

Elise forced her eyes open and was met with the sight of Corrin with an odd smile on her face. She couldn't tell if it was a happy smile, or maybe a bit sad. She let out a small laugh, sounding glad to be remembering or maybe... upset?

"She puts me to bed a lot too!" Elise answered as cheerily as she could, trying to pull Corrin back to a big smile again. Her voice was a bit groggy, but hopefully it could still act as a joy-bringer. "She comes into my room all the time at the castle and sings lullabies."

It wasn't so different here from Castle Krakenburg, when Elise really thought about it. There was hardly a view out the windows, the whole of Krakenburg being in a walled pit, and the blankets were a bit more comfortable and of higher quality. There, Camilla would slip under the covers of Elise's bed and stroke her hair, sing her to sleep. Elise didn't often go to bed alone anymore, as Camilla had been in her room at the castle almost every night after her mother passed, and especially every night since Elise's mother had as well.

Her sisters were always there for her. Camilla once said it was because she'd missed her chance with her other younger siblings, the ones who'd passed on, and that was why she now held her two younger sisters and her little brother so dearly. Elise didn't quite grasp the idea since she'd never known the others. She wondered, if Corrin was always here and had never known the others either, why she always doted on her too.

 _That_ was the major difference at Castle Krakenburg. There, there was no Corrin.

"Hey, Corrin?" Elise spoke up in a small voice, heavy with almost-sleep. But she powered through her sleepiness; there were questions she very much wanted to ask.

Why was Corrin never at Krakenburg? Why couldn't she come visit them like they visited her? Elise would have loved having her put her to bed every night, just like now. She would've loved being able to run and play with her every day. Why couldn't it always be like this? Corrin had been in the fortress since she was young enough to be sung to sleep by Camilla, but why had she been here for so long?

Elise missed her when they were apart…

But when Corrin asked, "Yes, Elise?" and looked down at her with those eyes, something in their dark red shine robbed Elise of her nerve. Something in how steady they gazed down at her, in the fact that they looked almost damp. Elise couldn't put her finger on it, but something took the trust she had had in herself to ask all her questions.

Those eyes weren't ones that would be eager to answer sensitive questions. Elise knew the look by now, from Xander, Father, Camilla… It would be better to simply enjoy her time with Corrin now, to huddle together under the blankets and fall asleep.

Asking why Corrin couldn't come to the castle would only spoil the mood. Elise already knew how it would play out: Corrin's eyes would steel, she'd close herself off like a door slamming shut. She'd say something like "It's complicated" or "Don't worry about it." Isn't that what everyone said when they didn't want Elise to know?

And so, after a hesitation, Elise put on the sweetest face she could and changed her course. Rather than say something that would make Corrin upset, she simply said, "I love you."

Corrin's eyes eased slightly, and the corners of her lips pulled gently upwards.

"I love you too, Elise," she replied. Softly, she stroked her younger sister's cheek before pulling slightly on her arm. "Let's go to sleep now, hm?"

Elise nodded and sat up before crawling back up to the pillows. Corrin pulled the blankets from beneath them and lifted them up as they both slipped under.

A puff of air from Corrin blew out the candle at her bedside, wrapping the room in darkness as she curled up next to Elise under the thick covers. Elise rolled over and nudged herself closer to Corrin's chest before being wrapped into a hug.

The cold from outside seeped in, the wind moaned against the windows, but Elise felt safe and warm in her sister's arms. Against Corrin's chest, she felt her sister's breathing grow shaky, a deep breath or sniffle coming every minute or two. Elise didn't know why. She never did, but it didn't stop her from wrapping her arms tightly around Corrin's stomach and squeezing.

"Are you cold, Elise?" Corrin asked quietly, her voice barely betraying a thing.

Elise simply played along, nodded, and snuggled closer to her sister. She felt the arms around her tighten, a bit too tight for trying to warm her up. They stayed that way until Corrin's breathing steadied as she fell asleep. It was only then that Elise let her eyes fall shut again, and she followed suit.

* * *

Two years passed. Corrin became a teenager, Camilla of marriageable age. Xander was a full-fledged prince now, and Leo was way ahead in his lessons to the point that he'd passed Corrin up.

Elise… Well, she was seven years old now. And though it didn't feel like much, she was proud of it. Why, she'd started learning to use staves, and Leo had even agreed to teach her some magic if she did well! She'd gotten quite good at the violin and fond of it. She'd even learned to recite the first kings and queens of Nohr in her lessons; Father had been impressed by that.

She still felt a bit behind and confused when it came to a lot of things. The question of Corrin's seclusion still rested on her mind, and why wasn't she allowed to mention Silas anymore? What exactly had happened in Hoshido that meant Xander's retainers were gone? And just what happened to that scary Iago's other eye? However, on the whole she felt like she was growing up just as much as the rest of her siblings.

Camilla had even thought her grown up enough to join in on the girls' day she had planned for Corrin. Well, girls' day plus Leo.

The royal carriage was travelling the familiar path to the Northern Fortress, three royal siblings and two rather sizable trunks of clothing and accessories for the girls to dress up in in tow. Elise recognized all the scenery she saw passing by the windows, years of riding past those willows and mountainsides burned into her memory.

Leo had his nose in a book to pass the time, but Elise simply held Camilla's hand and rested against her shoulder as they patiently gazed out at the passing forests, waiting to arrive at their destination. It was quiet for the most part, save for Leo asking Elise once or twice to stop swinging her feet back and forth.

They'd not been able to visit the fortress in a week, much to Elise's disappointment. Castle Krakenburg had played host to a week-long event for the nobility. Elise wasn't quite sure what it had been about – something about money for the army – but all she knew was it had meant a week of staying in the castle. It had been fun to see a big ball, her brothers and Camilla all dressed up and dancing and charming their guests, but she was simply eager to get back to Corrin.

By the time the carriage wheels began shaking over the gravel way to the fortress' front door, Elise was crawling over Camilla's lap, ready to spring out the door. And when the horses came to a halt and the coachman opened the door for them, that is exactly what she did.

"Elise!" Camilla called after her. "Careful, darling!"

The young princess was far too excited to heed her sister's words. She lost her balance when she hit the ground, stumbling a bit in the process, but picked herself right back up. She barely heard Camilla and the coachmen discussing the pickup arrangement - they would be riding back with Xander's carriage when he arrived in the evening - as her feet flew to the front door of the fortress.

With the largest of smiles on her face, Elise stretched onto her tippytoes and took both brass knockers on the doors into her hands. Left, right, left, right, left she banged them against the door, then decided they guards had probably heard her.

The minute it took for the doors to creak open was a minute too long. She couldn't wait to see her sister! Especially in the pretty dresses Camilla had brought her…

"Princess Elise!" the guard at the door exclaimed with pleasant surprise. Elise smiled sweetly at him in greeting. "I wasn't aware you would be visiting today."

"It's a surprise!" she exclaimed, glad that their arrival was truly unexpected. "Camilla and Leo came too. And Xander will be here later."

"Understood. Please, do come in!"

Elise thanked the guard as he opened the doors wider for her, allowing her to skip over the threshold and onto the stone floors of the indoors.

The guard left the doors open for the older siblings as he asked Elise, "Shall I alert the staff to prepare a meal for milady and her siblings?"

"No thanks!" answered Elise kindly. Oh, no they wouldn't be needing food for the afternoon. Her mouth was already watering thinking about the snacks her eldest sister had brought for them... "Camilla brought chocolate bonbons for us to eat! They were a gift from one of the dukes, all the way from Cyrkensia!"

With a polite smile, the guard told her they sounded delicious. Then, he excused himself with a bow. "I shall fetch Princess Corrin at once."

Alone in the foyer, Elise waited anxiously, her good mood ready to burst from within her. Thankfully her siblings were there to keep her occupied until Corrin arrived.

"Elise!" Leo called annoyedly from outside. At the sound of her name, the young one turned to see him on the lawn, struggling to haul one of the clothing cases from the coach to the door. "You could at least help me carry the trunks full of clothing I won't even be wearing!"

Camilla approached from behind him with a trunk of her own. She, however, seemed to be doing fine with the weight. "Oh, Leo, darling," she began teasingly. "You're welcome to try on any of my dresses you like."

"Not funny." Leo glared at her with a pout, rather roughly adjusting his grip on one of the trunk's handles and charging forward.

Elise giggled as she ran to pick up the other handle, pulling what weight she could of the clothing case to the door. By the time they made it to the front, there was a third set of hands to help them out.

"What are you three doing here?" Corrin's face lit up at the sight of her siblings, and Elise's lit up right back.

Elise had the handle of the clothing case taken from her by her elder sister, and it was all she could do not to hug her legs then and there.

Camilla set down the case she'd been carrying in the foyer, and Leo and Corrin followed suit. She was the first to pull Corrin into a quick hug. Obviously proud of her surprise plan, she explained cheerily, "We thought we'd surprise you! We missed you this week, after all."

As soon as Corrin was free, Elise took the chance to spring into her arms. "Corrin!" she almost sang as she felt two strong arms wrap around her and spin her around once.

"Oh, Elise! I'm glad to see you."

Corrin set her down and greeted Leo as well with a quick hug before she even asked about the large, heavy boxes her siblings had brought along.

"Well, since you've been growing like a bean sprout lately," began Camilla, her familiar, endeared smile warming up her face as always. "I wanted to bring some of my old clothing to tailor for you. And since Elise and I both got so accustomed to dressing up this past week, we thought we'd make a whole day of it! I've brought accessories, makeup, everything we need to make ourselves into proper princesses. I extended the offer to Leo, but…"

Corrin giggled as Leo replied in a deadpan voice, "I think I'll pass. I'll be in the study until Xander gets here."

"Oh, Xander's coming too?" asked Corrin, her mood clearly boosted once more.

"He'll be here in the evening," Camilla answered. "But for now, there's a _darling_ blue dress in here with your name written on it!"

* * *

Corrin had managed to convince Sir Gunter to pardon her from training for the day (with the promise to work extra hard the day after), so that by midday, the three Nohrian sisters were up in Corrin's chambers. In a few short hours, they'd managed to turn the ordinarily bare-bones, orderly room into a chaos zone. Fine fabric lay over the few chairs and covered the bed, necklaces and bracelets and tiaras coated the surface of every dresser and vanity. It was as though a royal ball were taking place, but the only guests were the clothes themselves.

Elise had yet to try anything on, but Camilla had put her hair into pigtails for her already, even brushed a bit of rouge on her cheeks. Her turn with the dresses would come, she'd said, but she only had two hands.

So, happy that she already looked like one of the fancy noblewomen with her cheeks so rosy, Elise was able to wait patiently amidst the mass of silks and furs on Corrin's bed. Corrin was on her way to looking refined too. Elise watched as her two older sisters stood at the full length mirror, Camilla behind Corrin and pulling at sections of fabric on a beautiful blue dress.

"I would need to take the hips in," Camilla muttered, pinching the extra fabric in the corresponding area. "And the bust as well…"

Elise saw Corrin's face sour in the mirror. "Honestly I have no idea how we're related… Look at me!" she whined. "I'm a full head shorter than you, even. And everyone else, for that matter."

"You're not shorter than me!" Elise piped up from the bed, full of encouragement and happy for it.

Corrin's reflection only shot her a teasing look that silently asked 'Seriously?'

"Oh, enough of that nonsense," said Camilla, leaving her sister's side for the dresser. She continued as she shuffled through the clutter on the wooden surface, looking for something specific. "You are perfect just the way you are. A woman thinks her differences are her greatest flaws..."

Before the rest of her bit of wisdom could follow, Camilla's face indicated she'd found what she'd been looking for. She raised a couple of pins in the air with a proud "Aha!" before making her way back to Corrin, pinning a bit of fabric in place and stroking her hair affectionately.

"A _lady_ knows her differences are her greatest assets."

Elise couldn't help but smile at Camilla's words. She was a lady if Elise ever knew one…

Someday, the youngest princess hoped to be just like both of her older sisters, but especially Camilla. She'd never be as strong as Corrin, that she knew. As kind, maybe, and that would certainly be nice. But maybe one day, if she worked very hard, she could be as elegant and ladylike as her eldest sister.

As she daydreamed about her older self, the picture of grace and charming the capes off all those handsome noblemen, she felt a pain in her stomach followed by a very _un_ ladylike growling. The vision of her future self sent her the same reminder that she'd heard all too often from those older than her: Only girls who eat all their food grow big and mature.

A sudden motivation hit her as she excused herself, determined to head to the kitchens and not only satisfy her hunger, but satisfy it with something healthy, something that Xander would say would make her big and strong. She'd eaten too many bonbons earlier anyway…

Elise quickly excused herself as Camilla and Corrin kept busy at the mirror. With a skip in her step, she made her way down the winding staircase to the floors below, her shoes clicking happily against the stone as she went.

Her breath began to grow short as she exited the main part of the tower and began to pass up floor after floor on her way down. She passed the hallways to guest bedrooms, weapon storage rooms, part of the maids' quarters… Eventually, she reached the second floor, and through the corner of her eye, she could see a wooden door resting half open. Dim light came from an open window and stretched into the hallways. Within were a few bookshelves, and a familiar figure seated at a desk, his nose stuck in a book. Elise changed her course.

Heading towards the open door, a smile grew on her face. She stepped into the light from the study and nudged her way in, catching the attention of her older brother.

"Hi, Leo!"

Leo looked mildly shocked to see her, his eyes wide, almost panicked. He closed his book and shoved it into his lap, a single fingernail holding his place. "Ah, Elise! Hello… Where are Corrin and Camilla?"

"They're still upstairs," answered Elise as she moved closer. Her eyes were locked on the book in Leo's lap. Surely he'd found another interesting volume to tell her all about. "What are you reading?"

Leo hesitated as Elise came closer, shirking away and pulling the book a bit closer. "I-It's… probably too complicated for you," he stuttered, grip tightening.

"No way!" Elise protested, brushing his worries off. Quickly, she made a lunge for the book, red leather right within her reach. "Can I see?"

After a quick struggle against her brother's hands, Elise managed to get the book to fall open, revealing a mess of black and white letters and, most strikingly, a beautiful portrait in watercolor.

Leo leaned back with a distressed sigh just as Elise let out a gasp of wonderment. The portrait was of a woman, more beautiful than any she'd ever seen. Well, not more beautiful than her sisters, or even some of the noblewomen she'd seen in the castle, but more… different.

Her hair was pink, her eyes as well - just like the coral plants Elise had read about in that book about the sea. She wore the most beautiful red and white robes, matching white ribbons tying two sections of her hair in front of her shoulders. And her face… She looked so peaceful, but the way her red-painted lips pursed and fell seemed almost sad.

"Who is that?" Elise asked Leo with awe.

"No one," Leo replied shortly, trying to push the book shut again.

However, Elise's hands holding it open wouldn't let up. She leaned in closer to read the caption of the portrait. "Queen Ihk-…onn-…"

"Queen Ikona."

Even when Leo said the name with such annoyance, it was beautiful.

"What is she queen of?" asked Elise. Surely this woman was a fairy tale queen, with that garb and the pink hair. That would explain why Leo was so embarrassed; he was reading a fairy tale!

"She _was_ the Queen of Hoshido."

Hoshido? So… that meant she was real! But… 'was'?

It quickly hit Elise that, yes, there was a new queen ruling Hoshido now. She'd heard her name thrown around often enough.

"Is Queen Mikoto her daughter?" asked Elise.

Her eyes were met with a look of either confusion or awe from Leo, his brows quirked as he looked back at her.

"I hear Father talk about her a lot," Elise explained defensively. She didn't know why no one ever thought she knew anything…

Leo cleared his throat and moved on. "No. Ikona was King Sumeragi's first wife. When she died, he married Mikoto."

Elise was a bit put out to hear of the beautiful queen's demise. "Aww, she died?" she whined with disappointment. Her eyes ran over the portrait once more, the pouting lips and somewhat sad eyes now holding more weight. Maybe Ikona had known she was dying and that her husband would marry someone else. But even in sadness… "She's so pretty, though! I want pink hair, too."

Leo replied with a noncommittal "Mm", his hands clearly still itching to get the book out of Elise's, though she couldn't imagine why.

"Can I see more of the pictures?" she begged her older brother.

"No. I have to study." Finally, Leo managed to pull back on the leather cover and ease it shut, finger still holding his place in the pages. "Why don't you go back to Corrin and Camilla?"

Elise felt her stomach sink. She didn't understand what Leo had to be so secretive about. And why, whenever some topics got brought up, could her older siblings be so tight lipped? Leo usually didn't have a problem explaining things to her, but now he was getting huffy and short, just like Xander did when he didn't want to answer a question...

But, with years of experience in the secrecy field, Elise had learned when to call it quits. "Fine," she drawled out, pulling away from Leo and making for the door.

But before she could reach it, Leo's voice called out behind her and stopped her. "And Elise?" he began, his tone almost sounding worried. "Don't... mention this to anyone, okay?"

Elise paused for a moment. So… he wasn't only being secretive with her? She felt a little better knowing that, and even better - in an odd sort of way - knowing that she was the only one Leo had shared the book with.

"Okay," she answered kindly.

Leo went back to his book, and Elise continued down to the kitchens, lost in thoughts but happy nonetheless.

She managed to distract the chef and sweet talk the kitchen staff into giving her a small bowl of strawberries from the countertops - something sweet _and_ healthy! Hurriedly, she ran out with her goods and made the trek back to Corrin's room.

She sat on Corrin's bed as Camilla did their sister's makeup, the two of them chatting all the while as Elise munched on her strawberries. At some point, she bit one open, saw the red juice within and was reminded of Queen Ikona's pouting face. She brought the fruit to her lips and painted them red with juice, and she wondered - without being able to ask anyone - if she looked like a Hoshidan Queen.

* * *

It wasn't until later that evening that Elise began to feel bothered by Leo's behavior earlier in the day. Why wasn't she allowed to tell anyone he'd been reading about Hoshido? She had a pegasus feather she'd received from Camilla that would've gone perfectly with a Hoshidan dress-up outfit, along with her strawberry lipstick, but she couldn't do that for fear of getting Leo in trouble. He'd shown her what Hoshidan women look like, after all…

However, she didn't understand _why_ that would get him in trouble, or why he thought it would, at least.

And so, that evening, she resolved to approach him about it, just like a grownup. She'd confront him and ask him directly if Hoshidans were evil, if that's why they weren't allowed to read about them.

When she did just that, Leo didn't quite give her the direct answer she'd been expecting in return.

"Well," he replied with a halfhearted tone. He turned the sparring sword in his hand by the grip, glancing over distractedly to the training grounds not far away. Xander was now waiting for him there. "We're at war with them."

Elise quickly rolled that answer around once or twice in her head, but it still didn't mean anything to her. It still didn't answer her question.

"So…" she began quietly, trying to pull more out of her brother.

Just then, Xander shouted for Leo from the training grounds, urging him to hurry it along. He'd only arrived a mere few minutes ago, but after the younger siblings' leisurely day, they apparently couldn't afford to put at least a round of sparring off.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" Leo called back with irritation. He ran off towards the training grounds without so much as a second glance at Elise.

Elise sighed, growing more and more frustrated.

It wasn't as though she had a lot to say about Hoshido. Most of what she knew, she knew from snippets she'd overhead from Xander or Father or passing comments she'd heard in Castle Krakenburg. But she was remembering more and more instances in which she'd asked to hear more about the eastern land, and people had simply brushed her off.

She knew she wasn't as old and grown-up as everyone else, but didn't she at least deserve to know _why_ she wasn't allowed to learn about something?

Well, Leo was out as a source for answers. Xander as well, for sure. She shivered at the thought of asking Camilla - she could already hear her soothing voice cloaking dead seriousness, telling (but actually warning) her not to worry about it. She loved Camilla, but when it came to serious topics, she wasn't the best one to go to for answers…

That left… Corrin. Yeah, Corrin!

Corrin would never get angry with her, she was sure. And there was no way she would punish Leo for getting her thinking about this topic to start with. It was clear she didn't know as much about Hoshido as their brothers and Camilla, but it was worth a shot.

She turned away from the outskirts of the training grounds, remembering Corrin mentioning she'd be spending some time in the stables. So to the stables Elise would go!

* * *

When Elise reached the stables, all the way in the corner of the grounds, her ears were met with the soft voice of the stable girl. She poked her head in the wooden door frame, the smell of hay hitting her nose as she saw Lilith and Corrin by the horses.

"... filled up her trough with carrots so she won't go hungry."

Elise only caught the tail end of whatever it was Lilith was saying, but she heard Corrin give her thanks and dismiss the younger girl with a smile. Elise lingered still in the doorway, waving to Lilith kindly as the latter took her leave.

"Bye, Lilith!"

Corrin hadn't seemed to notice her youngest sister was there until she'd heard her speak. Her hands stopped running a brush through her horse's coat, and her eyes snapped up towards the door.

"Elise!" she exclaimed with wide, ruby eyes. "I thought you were inside with Camilla."

"She's busy altering those dresses for you," explained Elise. She took her first steps towards Corrin, her shoes landing on a floor of hay as she briskly made her way to her sister. In the most grown-up voice she could muster, she said seriously, "I wanted to ask you about something."

Corrin's eyes followed her curiously as she climbed onto the wooden rail fence making the walls of the stables. Elise carefully sat herself down on the top rail and, very ladylike, crossed her feet and rested them on another rail below her.

"What is it?" asked Corrin, open but clearly still somewhat skeptical of her sister's odd behavior.

Taking in a short, steady breath, Elise prepared herself. _Corrin won't get angry_ , she reminded herself, and with that thought in mind, posed the big question.

"Are Hoshidans evil?"

Corrin paused. Her hands, which until then had been fiddling with the brush they held, stilled. It was a familiar reaction to Elise, one that said, _"I didn't expect you to ask that, and I don't want to give an answer."_ She feared she may have miscalculated; perhaps Corrin _would_ get angry…

But her elder sister shocked her when she set down her horse's brush on a nearby stool, her eyes remaining concentrated on Elise. Unwavering, curious, but still gentle.

"Evil?" she repeated and came closer to Elise at the fence. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, Father is always talking about how to hurt them, and Xander says they took his retainers. And…" She thought back on Leo's secrecy with his book, on Camilla growing uncomfortable at the sight of her pretending to be Hoshidan, on years of hearing the 'the Easterners' whispered like it was scandalous and offensive and quickly brushed away. "No one ever wants to talk about them. Is it because they're bad?"

"Well…" Corrin leaned a hand on the fence next to Elise. She heaved a thoughtful sigh, her mind clearly at work as she mulled over an appropriate answer. After a pause, she replied, "We're at war with them."

"That's what Leo said," Elise told her as frustration sank into her voice. "But that's not an answer."

Corrin replied level-headedly, "It means we - our countries - think a bit differently, that's all." Her gaze slipped over Elise's shoulder, out across the grounds, and her face lit up with a small twitch. Elise knew that look, the one her sister took on when she got an idea, and she quickly turned around to see what Corrin was looking at.

There, across the green, were her two older brothers, swords in hand as their silhouettes battled each other back and forth across the dimming horizon.

"Like Xander and Leo."

Xander's hands were making those barely controlled gestures of his as he argued with Leo over something the girls couldn't hear. Leo fired a weak spell in annoyance, which his older brother barely dodged before pointing threateningly at the spellcaster. The youngest prince turned to leave in exasperation before thinking better of it, going at Xander with his sword with a renewed vigor.

Corrin let out a chuckle at the sight. "They don't always agree on things," she explained to Elise. She paused a moment long as though reluctant to continue, like she wasn't sure she should. "And they fight sometimes. But that doesn't mean either one of them 'bad.'"

Elise tried to understand, knowing from Corrin's hesitation that she must've just said something with a lot of weight. She nodded her head slowly and waited for it to click, but it simply wouldn't.

"Oh," she uttered unconvincingly.

Corrin seemed to pick up on the vacant expression on her sister's face, taking it as her cue to explain her comparison more clearly.

"My point is, Elise, that Nohr and Hoshido fight because they can't agree on things, too. But that just means that we're different, not that anyone is evil. Especially not everyone in one country." She placed a hand on Elise's head, stroking her hair affectionately as a smile grew on her lips. "Look at you, for instance. Nohr has hurt Hoshido too, but our country isn't full of bad guys. We still have a sweet little girl like you, right?"

Elise blushed, and a bashful smile crept onto her face.

"And two brave princes!" said Corrin funnily as she leaned in closer to Elise.

"Yeah."

"And two other princesses who are practically perfect in every way, right?"

"Yeah!"

The two sisters shared a giggle, the seriousness in the air lightened considerably. Corrin leaned up on the fence next to Elise, her hand slipping from her baby sister's hair down to her shoulder as she squeezed her into a one-armed hug.

"You'll learn more about the war one day, Elise," she promised. "But until then, you just focus on staying so kind. Our little light in the family…"

Elise felt a small kiss planted on her head, and she hugged Corrin a bit tighter. Corrin always knew how to make her feel special. But if she were being honest, she didn't feel like a light in the family. Rather, she often felt she was the only one in the dark, without a clue.

"Sir Gunter taught me that kindness is a light that shines brightest and can never run down its wick. It can burn forever and brighter than anything else in the world."

'Than anything else in the world'? Well, that did sound nice… And Elise supposed it was true that no one could ever run out of kindness to give. But shouldn't she be more serious like her siblings? Should knew now that Hoshidans were _not_ evil, but everyone did seem to want to hurt them… Shouldn't she do the same?

"So I say give as much kindness as you can where you can - even if everyone else tells you otherwise. Then maybe we'd all be a little happier," said Corrin, her voice a whisper that Elise could barely catch. But when she looked right at her little sister, her voice and eyes softened, a questioning quirk to her eyebrows. "Yeah?"

'Even if everyone else tells you otherwise.' Elise let those words repeat in her head. Maybe Corrin was right. Maybe if everyone were a bit nice to Hoshido, and the Hoshidans a bit nicer to Nohr, maybe everyone would be a bit happier. So even if everyone told her to hate Hoshido…

She remembered what a smile and some kindness could do for just her siblings, like making them happy or making them smile too. As long as she was kind, even to an enemy, maybe she could make even the enemy smile.

"Yeah," Elise replied, a light smile on her face. Finally, she felt like she was beginning to understand the world and the war a little bit, even if her take on it all was a bit unconventional. But if Corrin explained it, it couldn't be too wrong.

She wished Corrin were around at Castle Krakenburg. Surely she would understand everything Elise couldn't there. Maybe she could even explain why kindness seemed to be drowned out in there…

Elise missed her sister when she wasn't there, and for years the question had pestered her: Why did she still live so isolated? She remembered a night she'd stayed at the fortress with Corrin, and she'd been so close to asking, but she'd lost her nerve. Her siblings had since explained to her that it was because Corrin was weak, but she was one of the strongest people Elise knew now!

She looked up at her elder sister, who had turned around to watch Xander and Leo sparring again. She looked so relaxed, leaned on the wooden rail of the fence and a peaceful expression as she gazed at her brothers.

Elise had worked up the nerve to pose the question now, and it seemed like the perfect time to ask again.

"Can I ask you something else?" she asked, turning herself around on the fence to face the same way as Corrin.

"Oh, I don't like the look of that face," Corrin teased, and Elise realized her brows were furrowed and her mouth downturned. "You look so cross. So Xander."

"I'm not cross," Elise hurried to explain over Corrin's chuckle. "It's just… Why can't you come live at the castle with the rest of us?"

The playful glint in Corrin's eyes died out slowly, and though her smile didn't fade entirely, it was clear to Elise that she was a bit hurt.

Hurrying to say something nice to brighten Corrin back up, she said, "I just want to be able to talk to you whenever I want."

Corrin nodded, a controlled look of serenity still on her face. She let out a small sigh before asking softly, gently, "How much have the others told you?"

"That… you were sick when you were little, and Father placed a spell on this Fortress to make you strong. And you had to live here." Before Corrin could reply with anything, Elise continued. Her voice grew whiny, a bit desperate. "But you're not sick anymore, are you? You don't need a spell!"

"No, I'm not sick," replied Corrin with a muted laugh, placing a calming hand on Elise's shoulder. "But I'm not strong enough to leave either."

"You're stronger than me!" Elise protested. "I live in Windmire, and I'm not very tough."

Corrin laughed, more endeared than anything else this time. "You're plenty tough in your own ways, Elise."

"Well, can't you come to Windmire anyway?" Elise's voice began to rise. "I can protect you! And Xander can too! And Leo and Camilla and-!"

"That's very sweet of you to offer. I would love to come back with you." Corrin caused Elise's heart to rise in hope, but before long, she let it back down gently. "But I need to be strong on my own."

Elise didn't want to understand, but a little part of her did. Her older siblings were always around to protect her, and she wouldn't wish them away for anything. But sometimes it would have been nice if they wouldn't shelter her from everything. She didn't like the feeling of never being able to find things out for herself. She supposed Corrin hated the feeling of lacking independence too.

Maybe that was why Corrin didn't hide things from her or dodge her questions. Maybe she sympathized with wanting to know more and never finding answers.

"I'll get strong enough, Elise, don't you worry," Corrin assured her with a small squeeze of the shoulder. "I want to be in Castle Krakenburg with you more than anything, that way we can talk like this every day, whenever we want."

"I'd like that!" replied Elise, and she didn't just mean because she'd have her sister around. She'd like it if Corrin could be free too. Free, happy, and able to bring a source and outlet for kindness to that dreary castle.

Also - and this gave Elise the biggest joy of all - if Corrin could make it to being strong and independent like the rest of their siblings, that meant Elise could too, someday.

"You know," Elise began, snuggling into her sister's side. She thought back to the night when the two of them and Leo had stayed awake waiting for a comet shower. She'd dozed off, but she'd later woken up when Corrin and Leo had fallen asleep. She'd crawled out of their arms and right up to the window, where stars were shooting all across the sky, and she'd wished as hard as she could on one extra bright falling star. "When we wished on the stars, I wished you could come live with us."

"Elise... " Corrin whispered, a look of shock in her eyes. But she looked happy, touched. "I thought you were asleep!"

"I was! But I woke up later," explained Elise with a proud smile. "I didn't want to miss my wish."

"You sweet little rascal…"

"But it still hasn't come true!"

Corrin laughed, a big, bright smile on her face. "You know…" she began slowly, quickly glancing around the stables, making sure no one was listening. "Since we've been on the topic of Hoshido, I read a while ago that they fold paper cranes there for granting wishes. If you fold a thousand your wish will come true."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Maybe the next time you come over, we can fold cranes. Just the two of us! And you can wish for anything you want." Corrin's voice was excited as she rubbed Elise's shoulder, hugging her tight and planning their next big day together.

Elise loved the idea of wishing for anything in the world - especially if it meant she got to make pretty cranes! But the only thing she wanted, more than anything else...

"I only want you!"

Corrin pulled her closer with a chuckle, and Elise wrapped her arms around her waist. She nuzzled her head into Corrin's chest and thought: She'd make a million cranes if it meant she could do this whenever she wanted.

* * *

Snow was falling.

Through the windows, Elise could see the world of white, flakes winding their way downward through the air in the blustering wind. She loved it when the barren mountains got covered in such a beautiful blanket of shiny white, especially when she knew how cold it was out there and feel the warmth of the fires in the fortress.

The sudden sound of Corrin's voice calling to her from her piano bench snapped her attention back to the world around her. She adjusted her violin on her shoulder, straightening her back and pinching the wood beneath her chin once more as her sister began to lead in to the song they'd been practicing together.

As she raised her bow to the strings and joined in, she saw Leo on the nearby sofa raise his interested gaze from his book to watch his sisters' duet. He made no comment as the notes flowed through the room, a mystical waltz with a bittersweet taste, and his eyes eventually returned to the pages of his volume.

Elise couldn't help but feel a weight on her chest from the dampened auras around her as she played. They'd been snowed in at the fortress for three days, and as much as she loved the snow, her siblings didn't seem to share her affection for it. Everyone had given up on training, the grounds covered with ice and fluffy white powder and far too cold to tolerate. Leo had had his nose in a book practically the whole time, Corrin had given up on trying to liven the place up, for Xander and Camilla…

Xander and Camilla were grown-ups now.

They'd both been mulling about the fortress, more busy than their younger siblings. Xander had been in one of the studies sorting through papers Elise wouldn't even pretend to understand, his brow deeply furrowed and his lips pulled into a concentrated frown. Camilla, though she'd technically been a malig knight since that awful battle two years ago that had taken her wyvern, had finally been getting serious about learning magic. She'd been up in the library practicing reading runes, alongside a mountain of other general studies she was falling behind on.

Ever since that battle that had taken Xander's retainers, their family wasn't quite the same. Everyone was more serious, it seemed. She still didn't know all of what happened during that battle, but she knew it had to have been bad from the way everyone tried to shelter her from it. She knew Xander's retainers and Camilla's wyvern didn't come back. It gave their whole family a scare, and all at once, as though someone had snapped their fingers, her two eldest siblings changed. They'd grown up.

Elise frowned a bit as she gazed out the windows at the snow, remembering a time when Camilla would've immediately pulled her and Corrin out there with her to play, when Leo would've reluctantly joined in, when Xander would've eventually found them out there and pretended to be too old for playing in the snow. Camilla would throw a snowball at him, and he'd join in anyway, secretly loving every minute of it. Corrin would take Elise by the hand and run with her, kicking up snow in every which way until the air was filled with white flakes catching the light of the dim sun, brightening the whole world as they glittered and reflected white, blinding white...

But alas, the gray of the fortress interior faded into her eyes as her daydream faded away. She only then realized that she'd stopped playing, the song at its end.

Footsteps from the doorway took the place of the music and caught her attention. Xander had entered the room, a stack of papers, a covered inkwell and his favorite quill stacked precariously in his hands. Elise's heart lifted a bit; was he moving his study to be near them?

"You two sound lovely," he commented kindly as he made straight for the table at the room's far wall, just behind Elise's back. He rested his things down carefully, slipping his arms gently from beneath his papers before situating his ink and quill next to them.

Corrin and Elise both thanked him for the compliment with smiles on their lips. He mirrored the look as he approached Elise from the side, placing a large hand on her head and giving it a small rub, a reflex developed over the years.

"Perhaps you should pursue the way of music rather than combat," he joked, still smiling. But only then could Elise see his eyes weren't in it, still tired and in a world of their own.

Corrin either didn't pick up on it as he headed to her side or chose to ignore it. As he placed a hand on her shoulder, she soured up her face and stuck her tongue out funnily.

"And give up my sword? Never!"

He chuckled, a light breath of air as his eyes ran over the sheet music resting on the piano's music rack, only half interested and half understanding the mess of black dots. His hand fell away from Corrin's shoulder.

"Well," he said as he began making his way back to the papers he'd left at the table. "Don't mind me. Please, continue. I could use some background music to clear my head while I work."

From the top of the stack, he took a few of the papers away, making for the couch where Leo sat. "May I, Leo?" he asked politely before taking a seat on the cushion next to his brother. He ran a hand through his hair, and his face grew cold and concentrated again, his eyes carefully reading through the pages before him.

Corrin began to play again.

A short while passed, the two sisters practicing their music - mindfully, for they still wanted to impress their brothers. The snow outside never relented, and Elise's jaw was starting to grow sore from holding her violin.

It was then that Camilla entered with little fanfare, a tome in one hand and a carrot in the other, which she bit absentmindedly at. Her hair was tied back, both eyes free and concentrated on the study material before her.

Elise played on as she watched her brothers notice her sister as well, but on the occasions in which Camilla did get herself to concentrate, she concentrated in the truest sense of the word. Xander and Leo's eyes returned to their books, and Camilla continued to wander slowly through the room.

Eventually, the song came to an end once more. Camilla's feet halted in their meandering tracks, and with a flick of her wrist, she slammed the tome in her hand shut.

"How fare your studies, Little Sister?" asked Xander from the sofa, a knowing tone to his voice.

"I believe 'atrocious' would be a suitable term…" Camilla replied, a funny quirk to her head to accompany her sarcasm. Gently, she lay her tome down on a nearby sideboard and took a final bite of the carrot she'd been snacking on. Her face soured. "An appropriate term for this carrot as well. Blech! We _must_ stock this place with better snacks."

Leo, his eyes still glued to his book, jumped in with his usual wisdom. "A chick doesn't fly the day he hatches," he said. Speaking as the best mage of the household, he could say with certainty, "It will take time before you're able to properly read spells."

"Oh, Leo…' Camilla sighed with a small laugh. "Had I told you that when you first started learning magic, I'd have had a tome thrown straight at my head."

The youngest prince didn't reply, but a barely visible smile on his lips said he'd heard her, and he remembered his own fervor he'd shown as a beginner. Elise smiled too, simply glad to see her sister and catch a glimpse of her siblings' normal manner.

The room quieted save for Camilla, now humming the same tune Corrin and Elise had been practicing. Corrin began to look through her music, Xander and Leo continued reading. The conversation had lightened the mood in the room a bit, but now they seemed to be falling into silence again.

Elise simply wouldn't have it.

Now was the perfect time for her to jump in and start some fun! Everyone was calm, Camilla was humming - a sign she couldn't be in a bad mood. Xander had specifically left his study to be with them. It was time to take the inklings of good spirits and bring them to full fruition.

Elise set down her violin and bow carefully on the table near Xander's study materials, and with as much skip as she could put in her step, she ran up to Camilla. Just like when she was a child, she grabbed onto the hem of her elder sister's black dress; she knew it just melted Camilla's heart when she did that.

"Camilla," she began sweetly, catching a fond gaze from her sister. "Will you teach me how to dance?"

A fond smile spread on Camilla's face, just as Elise anticipated. "What? Why the sudden wish?"

"I don't know!" Elise giggled, flashing her most charming smile. She grabbed a bit tighter to Camilla, looking up at her with sweet eyes. "I love this song and want to dance to it, but I don't know how to waltz. And you always look so beautiful waltzing with those noblemen at the balls…"

Camilla chuckled, every bit as elegant now as she was during those formal events. Placing a hand on her sister's head before squeezing her cheeks, she said agreeably, "Very well. It's only right that a princess should know how to dance, after all."

Elise had known it wouldn't take much convincing!

Camilla took a step back, taking Elise's hands into her own. Corrin began to play their song once more, this time fuller as she took over the part of the violin as well.

"Now," Camilla began to explain. "When we dance, we stand up tall. Shoulders back! Arms poised like… so! And the most important part - you mustn't forget this…" Her lips curved upwards, elegantly lighting up the purple in her eyes. "A smile!"

Elise followed Camilla's instructions and her example, and as her elder sister explained that she would lead, she slowly, concentratedly, began to step around in circles with her to the sound of "One, two, three. One, two, three…" They started first at half the beat of Corrin's piano playing before working up to spinning round and round in time to the music.

Elise was still clumsy on her feet, but Camilla's hands pulled her along as they spun through the room. The elder of the two eventually began to sing along with simple "La, la laaa"s, and her face grew into the familiar smile Elise had missed these past few days in the fortress. A few lilac hairs began to fall from their ties, flying in her face - a delicate shade of alabaster and marked only by the scar she said her mother's ring had left near her left eye.

No matter how many years went by, Elise would never stop wishing she'd one day be as lovely as her sister.

"You're terrible at leading."

The comment came from the sofa. Without stopping, Elise and Camilla both turned their heads to see Leo, his eyes unamused and barely glancing up at them.

"Ha!" Camilla guffawed and asked incredulously, "And I suppose you could do better?"

Leo looked back down, probably thinking himself rather clever for backing down. But Camilla thought otherwise.

"Oh, no no!" she exclaimed through laughter. Keeping her hold on Elise's hand, she stormed over to the sofa with her sister in tow. "You don't get to dole out idle criticism that way, _Little Brother._ "

The way she teased him with those final two words as she let go of Elise and took hold of his arm with both hands sent him sputtering indignantly.

"B- Camilla! Cut it out! I'm trying to-"

"Come on!"

Elise giggled and watched as Camilla dragged their brother to the center of the room and forced him into leading. He started clumsy and unwilling, but Camilla's hands pushing and pulling him along got the better of him.

Camilla began to sing, shamelessly ignoring her brother's petulant glower.

From the piano bench, Corrin turned around to see the two dancers as well. Her fingers still gliding through the song, she laughed.

"Impeccable form, good Prince Leo!" she complimented him, sure to make it seem more like teasing as they all always did with the youngest prince.

As Leo shot back with a quick response, Elise heard a lower, quieter chuckle from behind her shoulder.

Xander, true to himself, was pretending to stay concentrated on the papers in his hands, but Elise could see the lingering, amused upturn to his lips. It gave his youngest sister an idea, and for it, she put on a face she'd not used on him in a long while.

"Xander?" she asked, her amethyst eyes wide and begging - her "sweet face" - as she held her hands out to him. Her palms reached out for his, just like when she was little and wanted to be picked up, wanted to bounce into the air with her older brother's hands helping her fly.

Only this time, he was the one who needed picking up.

For as much as he played the role of eldest sibling perfectly, he had gotten so into the role as to rarely smile like he used to. It had been ages since he'd let himself go, since he'd played with Elise. She wasn't asking to play house or dolls anymore - she was ten years old, after all! But she missed his laugh. He had always been there to make her stop crying, to make her smile; she missed seeing his smile.

"Rest time is as important as work time," Elise insisted, still refusing to break eye contact with her brother. "I've heard you say that before."

Xander waited a moment, looking almost skeptical. His eyes flitted to his papers, conflicted. But finally he conceded to the pleading eyes of his baby sister and set his work aside on the cushion next to him. His hand took Elise's.

He let her dance on his feet when they joined Camilla and Leo, his hands holding tight to hers to keep her balanced. It took a while, but after enough time, the weight on his shoulders seemed to ease up. He smiled, not fully, but enough to remind Elise that her elder brother whom she so loved really was still in there somewhere. She hugged him tight around the waist, and she was more than delighted when his hand raised to her back and returned the gesture. Suddenly, she was five years old again.

Elise noticed that Corrin was nearing the end of the song, but she feared letting the moment end. On a whim, she pulled away from Xander's arms and leapt off his feet. She rushed to the table, fetching her bow and violin from its surface before running back to Corrin.

She tugged at her sister's shoulder, catching her attention and motioning with her head to Xander as she readied her violin at her chin. Corrin smiled and seemed to understand, standing and letting the sound of the piano die out only to be replaced by the violin.

Xander waited with an outstretched hand on Corrin, which she ran towards and took with joy. The two of them picked up right where Xander and Elise had stopped, and the youngest sister drew her bow across the strings, picking up where Corrin had left off in the song before looping it back to the beginning.

She watched as her four siblings spun in graceful circles. Camilla's voice still sang, mingling in harmony with the violin. Leo lead her around the room, unexpectedly (and perhaps ironically, considering his past stumbles) very graceful on his feet. And Corrin and Xander…

Corrin was dreadful at following her brother's lead, but smiling and chattering away nonetheless. Some comment she made drew a laugh out of her older brother, and though Elise couldn't hear what it was, she smiled too. She could see Xander's true smile again, wide and kind, and hear his true laugh, soft and genuine.

She sighed to herself as she played, her heart satisfied and soaring.

Over the years she'd heard a lot about how to behave. Be quiet, people had told her. Be demure. Be ruthless, said Xander, and be honorable too. But the words that had stuck with her most were Corrin's: be kind.

Corrin was the only one to have ever told her to be kind without limits, and she remembered how careful she was in saying it. As though she knew it was something no one else would want to hear.

Elise often got that impression from her when she spoke of open kindness like she showed, when she spoke of the enemy like fellow humans, when she fed Elise's curiosity about peace and the eastern lands. She always looked like she knew such words would bring her trouble, like she knew she was an island, too different from the rest.

Well, hadn't Camilla once said a lady's differences were her greatest assets? Elise saw the smiles Corrin could put on people's faces, and that ability was a gift, an asset, wasn't it? Wasn't it good if Elise could do the same? If she could, she would make the whole world smile.

But for now, she had made four people smile, the four most precious people in the world. She watched as they danced and laughed, and the silence the fortress had held mere moments ago seemed miles away. It was filled with happiness now, and she liked to think it was partly in thanks to her.

Kindness never runs out, Corrin had told her. So she'd give and give, even if everyone else told her otherwise. Especially to those who had made her smile more than anyone in the world.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _"I always thought of Xander as my own personal hero. You know, like how some girls think of their dads. [...] When things got rough, though, I could always rely on Xander. He always smiled then, and he used to laugh so much."_

 _\- Elise, S-Support with Arthur_

I dare you to watch Mingled Tears right now and not cry.

I think Elise's dynamic with her other siblings, especially Xander, is something so special. She loves them so much and just wants them to be happy, even if it means pretending to be more naive than she is. She knows what's up. A sweeter little thing there never was.


	5. Xander

_"You can't throw your life away on "if only," little princess. You chose a path...but I never had that choice. I am the Crown Prince of Nohr. My fate was sealed the day I was born."_

 _Xander to Corrin, Birthright Chapter 26_

* * *

 _But in spite of it all, we were a family._

* * *

Xander's hands trembled as he stood at his father's side. It wasn't the cold air of the Northern Fortress driving him to tremble, nor was it the small crowd of soldiers in the room that he was unfamiliar with. No, it was the little girl weeping on the ground before him. She was half his age but curled up against the wall with her eyes buried in her knees, white hair stained brown with dirt. She looked so much younger than her age would suggest.

Sir Gunter was the first to break the stillness in the room.

"Is this…?" his deep voice whispered. A look of disbelief rested in his widened eyes and mouth held slightly agape, staring at the young girl as though he couldn't quite believe she was there.

Xander had never seen the great general stunned before. It sent his hands trembling a little harder, though he quickly tried to still them. His father was still in the room, right next to him, and his gravelly, deathly serious voice reminded Xander that it was best he not appear shaken.

"She's Sumeragi's child," said Garon, his voice emotionless and unfamiliar to his son's ears. "I slaughtered him in Cheve and stole her away."

The young prince's stomach flipped and sank at those words. His heart and breath caught in his chest. Father had slain the Hoshidan king? No, that couldn't be…

The last Xander had heard, Father was going to Cheve to broker peace. The conflict was finally supposed to end… and Father had killed King Sumeragi? That was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear when he'd gotten word that his father had sent for him. He didn't know what he had been expecting when he'd arrived at the Northern Fortress, but it certainly wasn't to see the daughter of a murdered king, kidnapped and wounded, the product of a failed peace treaty.

"Their country will be in as delicate a situation as ever," Garon continued, and with every word he set his son more on edge. "And this child is the tool we will need to break into their core and wipe them out once and for all."

"My lord Garon…" replied Gunter. His voice didn't seem capable of grasping onto words. What words could there be for an act so brutal? "This is…"

"Remarkable," finished the king.

Wrong, thought Xander. How was a five year old girl supposed to help them? How was it fair to take her from home? To take her father…

He tried to reassure himself. Father always had a good plan, he always knew how to fix things. Less so in the months since he'd lost Queen Arete, but… if he said this was a perfect plan, there had to be some truth to it. There had to be a reason why he'd abandoned the plan for peace.

A scared sob escaped the little girl's mouth from behind her knees. Garon didn't seem fazed, and he addressed Gunter once more.

"I have called you here, Gunter, because she will need a guardian. Someone I may trust to bring her up a strong and loyal Nohrian," he said coldly, as though he were speaking of a horse rather than a human child. "You have the strength, and I trust you've learned your lesson about loyalty."

Gunter's shoulders tensed, his lips pursed. Xander felt there was a meaning behind those last words that he didn't understand.

A heaviness sat in the knight's voice as he dutifully replied, "Yes, my lord."

"Very well. Then she is to remain here with you."

The king shot a glance at the young girl as a louder cry escaped her, racking her shoulders and sending her arms gripping her knees tighter. A pain ran through Xander's heart at the sight of her.

"Come, we will discuss this further in a... quieter wing," said Garon with displeasure, a disparaging glance shot at his sobbing captive.

The knights and Sir Gunter turned and filed out of the room, their boots clanking along as they marched down the winding staircase outside the door. Garon, however, turned to his son first and took him by the shoulders.

"Xander," he started, his eyes boring into his son's. They seemed… emptier than before. "I called you here because you are the crown prince. You have a duty to know all that goes on in Nohr, for the sake of our prosperity. And Princess Kamui could be the key we need to finally ensuring victory, prosperity, for our nation. You have a duty to know this. You, and no one else."

Xander fought down the trembling in his hands once more as he slowly processed the meaning of his father's words. This was a huge responsibility that he had - another one to add to the growing pile and the weight on his chest.

And no one else could know.

"Yes, Father."

It took about ten minutes after Father had left for the girl to even look up. Until then, Xander had been frozen. Frozen in fear or simply distraction, he didn't know. But the sight of her face stopped him short.

A hiccup escaped her as she looked at him with pitiful eyes, red like none he'd ever seen. The sight of tears all over her cheeks and scratches bearing blood sent his own blood running cold.

Not exactly how he'd imagined his first sight of a real Hoshidan.

" _Otousan wa doko desu ka?_ "

A tiny, trembling voice. Xander grew even more stunned and choked up at the sound of those foreign syllables.

" _Shitte imasu ka?_ "

Of course she would speak Hoshidan… Her tanner skin and red eyes were evidence enough of her heritage. The thought hit Xander all over again that she didn't belong here. She belonged in Hoshido with her father and mother, and his father had stolen her.

He was too overwhelmed to remember a single word of Hoshidan he'd learned - before Father had called off his lessons, that is.

" _Otousan_ …" Her face scrunched up in response to his silence, the tears in her eyes welling up again. Her chest began to tremble as she sobbed, "Otousan hoshii!"

Xander willed himself to think. He had never been talented in foreign tongues to begin with, and under pressure he was even worse. But her eyes were boring into him, and he had to say something.

'Otousan.' He knew that word. He knew he did... It was... The sun? Was she sad about the darkness, missing the sunlight? No, that was Ohisama…

" _Ryoma! Ryoma ga kimasu!_ " She began to scream, her tears and sobs coming faster and harder.

Ryoma… That was the Hoshidan prince, Xander realized. Her brother. And…

" _Otousaaaaaaaan_!"

Otousan meant Father.

He felt a sudden, heart-churning pain in his chest as realization washed over him. He knew that loss all too well.

* * *

Mother had never minded that he was shy.

She had always encouraged him to speak up, but his stillness had never irked her the way it had Father. When his siblings would visit the castle, Mother would often give him an encouraging nudge toward them. He needn't fear a thing, she'd always told him. She would keep an eye on things.

And that she most definitely did. The concubines had stayed largely in line when Mother was around. Marcus, though only a year younger than Xander, was a bully, but he'd never hurt anyone when he knew the queen would go straight to the king if he did. Clarissa and her mother were protected from the wicked antics of Marcus' mother. Young Leo's mother kept mostly to herself and kept hawk's eyes on her son, though she wasn't above sending Leo to his father as a shoehorn - nothing but a way to get to the king when his wife wasn't watching.

It was Camilla and her mother that had scared Xander the most, though. Camilla herself had been a somber child, quiet, and kept mostly to playing with her doll. Her mother, however, was the only one that Mother couldn't seem to control. Regina had been one of Father's highest-ranked sorceresses, and she'd always used her position as an excuse to remain close to him. Even Mother hadn't been able to fend her off.

He never did understand how Mother managed to handle the situation with such dignity. Father loved her very much, Xander knew, and she loved him as well. It took years for the eldest prince to even understand why a maid, a sorceresses, a stable girl, even one of Father's own retainers had suddenly become a part of "his family." How could Father love anyone but Mother?

This uncertainty and the tension Xander could feel in the air when they were all gathered together had done nothing but make him nervous. Any hope he'd had of speaking up, let alone trying to play with his brothers and sisters, was strangled. Father had called it ridiculous, but Mother had never minded.

But one day, Mother wasn't there to keep things under control anymore. When she died, every semblance of order went out the window, and Xander pulled away even more than before. He rarely left his room anymore when his siblings came to the castle, worried without the protection of his mother.

Through his windows, he noticed the carriages from Clarkenstein arriving more and more often, saw the concubines fawning and fighting over Father even more than before, and he felt more urgency and tension in the air. At a certain point, things reached a horrid peak: Marcus had put poison in their little sister Clarissa's tea. His mother had found belladonna berries and had him slip it in the tea when they'd thought no one was watching. They were the same incredibly rare berries used to poison Mother - a harrowing discovery. Clarissa perished, her mother left the villa in a state. Marcus' mother was put to death for treason without hesitation, and Marcus as well for his role in the death of Clarissa.

They hadn't exactly been a family before, but without Mother there to keep things in place, Xander felt he hardly had a family at all anymore.

Then Lady Arete came along, and things quieted down. The concubines still fought, but not as violently as before. They had all found a common target in Lady Arete and her daughter, and as intimidating as Xander's stepmother could be, she was never quite assertive enough to put an end to it.

He quite liked Azura, though. She was shy as well, and though they never talked about it, he knew she'd lost her father like he'd lost his mother. They were similar, and that made her less scary and foreign than his other siblings. So when they walked through the gardens or shared lunch together, quiet and supervised, he felt neither threatened nor afraid. He felt almost as safe alone with her as he had with Mother by his side around the other siblings. Mother would've liked Azura, he thought.

The feeling, Xander thought, was probably not mutual. The way the others - or rather their mothers - tormented her, he doubted she felt safe anywhere in the palace. From what Xander understood, Queen Arete didn't have the power to protect Azura like his mother had shielded him. And when she too passed on, Azura was left alone.

Father changed at Queen Arete's death. He became stricter, meaner,... sadder. Xander was kept to a strict training regimen, the criticisms came more often. After the slight improvement the past few years has brought to life in the castle, what little warmth was left had gone entirely.

He trained, or tried to. He wanted to speak to his father, knowing a good son would ask if everything was alright. But every time he saw his father's eyes - how cold and sad they'd grown in the last few years - he lost his nerve.

There was talk of a treaty for peace, of a trip Father would take to Cheve to put an end to the problems with Hoshido that had persisted over the decades. Xander took heart in this, wondering if perhaps his father was getting better, calmer on his own. But that fateful night in the Northern Fortress showed him that that was anything but true. Things had, seemingly out of nowhere, grown so much worse.

Azura was stolen away mere weeks later. She'd slept in the room just down the hall from Xander's, and he'd not heard a thing. He felt a numb kind of disappointment. She was so much like him, so would those kidnappers have been able to take him as well if they'd tried? He wasn't strong enough to defend himself either, after all.

Just like he hadn't been strong enough to protect his stepsister.

All the things that had offered him any sense of comfort were gone — his mother, his father, the only sibling he'd felt halfway at ease around, and he'd been powerless to stop them.

It was four days after discovering Azura's disappearance that he pulled himself together, deciding he would be powerless no longer. He would have to be strong now. He would have to stop letting a brother six years his junior carry all the praise, stop disappointing Father and making things worse for him. Stop letting misery rule their lives.

He forced himself to speak up more. He grew harder calluses on his palms from the time he began to dedicate to training, hours upon hours of drilling himself and improving himself. Father began to be impressed with him, and it was the closest Xander had seen him to glad in ages. He worked harder.

And he visited the Northern Fortress more often. In four months, he was the only one permitted to see the stolen princess, now named Corrin. Now his sister.

She was small and frail, scared with good reason, but Xander tried his hardest to make things easier for her. There was no blood tying them to one another, but he didn't mind. What was blood good for, anyway? It didn't seem to help the ruined situation between him and his half-siblings.

Corrin was his chance to find a sibling who he didn't fear, who wasn't raised to see him as an enemy. She was sad, but he'd taken a vow to overcome misery, and he'd help her do the same. Just as he'd worked hard on his social skills, on his sword fighting, he would work hard to build a bond with Corrin and be an admirable older brother. No matter how awful the circumstances, he wouldn't let her sink into despair. He wouldn't give up on her.

* * *

"Gah!" Corrin grunted as her wooden blade collided with his. Her ten-year-old eyes thinned in determination as she widened her stance and tried to hold off his sword as he pushed against hers.

"Come on, little princess. I know you've got more in you!" Xander challenged her with a shove of his blade, pushing her away and granting them distance. With renewed energy, he struck at her again. "Hah!"

Another grunt escaped Corrin's mouth as she parried his blow. She advanced, struck at him once, twice, only to be blocked both times. Xander could feel the lack of strength in her strikes as her sword collided with his, and he knew for a fact she could hit much harder than she was.

She was still holding back…

Bringing the match to a swift close, Xander caught her sword in a bind and pulled upwards, careful not to pry it from her hands with too much force. His sword pointed at her neck, her shoulders fell, and she knew she'd lost again.

Lowering his sword to the ground, Xander told her sternly, "You need to stop holding back your strikes!"

"I'm not!" Corrin protested, her whining tone thoroughly unconvincing.

"You most certainly are." Xander looked at her with a raised brow, daring her to say otherwise. She didn't and opted to gaze at the ground. "You'll never achieve victory that way."

"I don't want to hurt you," she said guiltily.

"You're not going to hurt me."

"Well, you hold back too for the same reason!"

He saw the smile growing on her lips and knew she was teasing. Halfway. She was teasing, but she was very right. He ignored it, not wanting to show that the soft young boy he'd worked so hard to be rid of was still in him, too worried to hurt his little sister. But she was very right.

"That mentality will get you killed on a battlefield, little princess," he told her, truth clinging to every word. He'd only been permitted to join the front the year before, but he'd learned a thing or two out there. "You may never let sentiment override your duty."

He saw her face shrink and knew it wasn't something she wished to hear - nor, gods knew, something she would heed. Talented as she was with the sword (when she did give it her all), he still could tell the thought of death weighed heavy on her. It had on him one, too, back when death had held weight at all.

He thought back on all the orders he'd gotten in battle, on all the people he'd struck down and hadn't known, hadn't spoken to. He'd much rather have had a war solved through diplomacy and treaties, but... this was the way things were.

He knew the feeling of wanting to hold back. He couldn't out there against the easterers, especially not as the crown prince, but here… Here he could hold back, and here he did. He knew he shouldn't, not helping her along by making things too easy for her, but he couldn't injure his sister. He couldn't be merciless.

But out there… he never had a choice.

* * *

There were plenty of nights where he went to the fortress to cool off, the only place where he felt as at peace as he could be.

These were nights where he'd fought with Father, or tried to. Where he'd gotten an order he couldn't agree with, that would've made Mother and his old father, who he used to be, sick. Nights where he cursed his position, his title. He cursed the crown on his head, weighing on him like a single, heavy shackle. And with every curse he would swing his sword, trying to unleash the unfairness of the world out on a training dummy that could offer no advice or comfort.

On nights as these, his whole life seemed it didn't belong to him. He was forced to seek more power from the Rainbow Sage, forced to wield Siegfried, forced to lead troops. These were things he was proud to do for his homeland, truly. But there were days in which he wished he had ever had the choice to make those decisions himself. To do things his way. He already feared the day he would be put into an arranged, political marriage, put on the throne, put before the whole army and see his whole life lain out before him, without a say in the matter.

His family, that was the one area where he still had a say. Father cared more about accomplishments than relationships, so he rarely dictated the time Xander spent with his siblings so long as he didn't lose focus.

But this was where Xander's greatest fear lie: he feared the day Father would go for his greatest accomplishment yet and send Corrin back to Hoshido. Beneath the family dinners and sparring matches, he feared the little family they'd built breaking apart. After all those years of hell in the castle as a child, he finally had a strong bond with his siblings. He loved them, above any and all else.

And a foolish part of him feared that when the one who'd brought them together - ironically, the outsider - was gone, they'd drift apart once more. He feared yet another sibling he cared for would slip through his fingers without him having a say, just as it had been with Azura or sweet Clarissa. And he feared he'd be powerless once more to stop it.

He swung his sword harder, determined to stay strong.

* * *

He remembered the day she'd run away, the sickening feeling of dread like ice and lead in his veins. He hadn't taken a moment to think, to let the thought settle in and deal with it calmly before he'd been running to his horse. He knew Camilla had tried to protest, but he hadn't heard a word she'd said. It had been all he could do to take a moment to send her inside, where he'd known she and Leo and Elise would be safe until he returned, before digging his heels into his horse's side and riding off into the barren woods after the castle guards.

Hours had passed, and the sky had grown dark and cold. His horse had been exhausted, his clothes had been rumpled and dirty, but he'd searched on as panic still warped his mind.

What if she didn't come home, he'd worried. Did that Silas understand what he'd done? They'd exited the fortress' barrier that kept it hidden. If any Hoshidans or their stealthy allies found them, they would take Corrin back. They would take her back, and she would never return. Not when she would be taken back to her birth family, not when she knew the truth.

He would never see her again. He would never be hugged by her again. Never train with her again. Never get to see her grow up. It was too soon; he wasn't ready to let go yet.

All along, he'd known what the plan for her was, but all he'd ever tried to do was put that thought out of his mind. He'd comforted her when she'd first arrived, to make her feel at home and perhaps, on some level, to help himself too. Through training her, comforting her, keeping his eye on her, he'd made himself stronger and more assured. Even six years later, he continued to do so.

As much as she'd needed him as an elder brother, he had needed her too. And it was for this reason that he'd feared losing her more than anyone.

He'd looked on until a scout had found him and informed him that his sister had been found. As fast as his horse would go, he'd rushed home, feeling as though he could barely breathe in his haste. And when he'd seen her standing in front of Camilla, so small and scuffed up but - praise the gods - unharmed, he couldn't help but surge forward and pull her into the tightest embrace his tired muscles had had in them.

Corrin had hugged him back with a little sniffle, and relief had poured forth from him in one shaky breath. She's alright, the lack of weight on his chest had told him, but when she'd left his arms and gone to clean up, he'd found himself fearful still.

Camilla had remained behind with him, and he could see her eyes side-glancing at him with concern. His heart still shaking in his chest, gaze set stubbornly on the ground, he'd whispered his fear almost to himself: "We've already lost so many siblings..."

He had felt her sympathetic gaze on him, and there was so much he'd longed to tell her. So many heavy secrets that he'd wanted off his chest. In many ways, he could rely most on Camilla, especially where their family was concerned. But he had remembered his father's words well from a night so far in the past. He had a duty to know, he and he alone.

And so he'd settled with holding it in, holding his tongue once more. Grimly, simply, he'd stated, "I can't have her be another one."

Gingerly, Camilla had lain a hand on his shoulder, and whispered reassurances to him, but he'd known so much better than she hopefully ever would. He'd known then the true dangers in Corrin's growing restlessness. Camilla couldn't have known that Father's plan to set their sister free from the fortress had had ulterior motives. Her freedom from the fortress would come at the price of her departure to destroy Hoshido.

And what if she learned the truth while she was there? What if she never returned?

He'd been so close to losing her that night, and it had only made him realize how unprepared he was for that moment where she'd leave them. His fear, combined with the strong desire to protect their family, brought him to a realization: He would have to be stronger. He had to keep Hoshido from her at any cost.

* * *

It was realizations such as these that grew to define the prince. When the country suffered, he finally realized his responsibility as crown prince to protect them however he could. In his family, he saw his duty as the eldest to remain steadfast for his siblings. Camilla may have cried for her lost wyvern, Leo may have trembled in fear at his first battle, Elise could frolic about without care for formality and Corrin could grow sorrowful in her isolation.

But no matter what, Xander would remain steady and calm. His strength, he came to see, would allow them to falter and encourage them to pull themselves together once more. So that after Camilla cried, she would go back to doting on their siblings and laughing with that little snort of hers. Leo would be fearful before feeling that competitive streak in him and trying to be braver than his older brother, and Xander would be glad to let him. Elise would hopefully keep the kindness in her as Xander gently tried to get her to focus, and Corrin would throw a fit in the fortress out of unhappiness before working thrice as hard with him to free herself from it.

Xander wanted nothing more than to see them happy and successful, so he remained strong. For all the good they had done for him, he owed it to them to be a model brother, a model prince. He'd be there to guide them, there to encourage them, there to help them come to terms with their lives as royals as no one had done for him.

* * *

He could see Corrin slipping away. He could sense it. Yet every time he had the chance to pull her back, it seemed he could never quite do what was necessary to do so.

When she worriedly asked about killing enemy soldiers, he told her it was a necessary means. Months later, when she asked what would happen at the war's end, he could only parrot his father's words to her.

It was what she needed to hear, he thought - what a good role model would say. She didn't wish to hear his stories from boyhood, scared of killing a man, his doubts about father's plans to annex the East. She needed confidence. One way or another, these were the ideals she would need to follow. Perhaps, if she heard these things from him, it wouldn't sting so badly.

But still, she continued to hold back her strikes. Still, when she was before their father, and told to kill two of her enemies, she begged for their mercy.

As crown prince, Xander was worried for her. He knew his father well enough to know that such kind-heartedness had no place before him. He knew this wasn't what Corrin needed to be.

As an older brother… he didn't quite know what he felt. Pride, for one. He'd taught her himself, years ago, that to take the life of an unarmed soldier was beneath a Nohrian royal. But the second mix of feelings came, as always, with those last two words.

She was soft, she was kind. She was fair, but she wasn't a Nohrian at all. She'd never taken the life of another. And if she couldn't kill two strangers, how would she kill her birth family when Father sent her back to Hoshido?

If her heart wasn't hardened, would it be soft enough to fall back into the arms of her true family?

He went with Corrin that night to release the prisoners, knowing full well how angry Father would be if he found them. He watched her eyes trail them as they escaped into the shadows, knowing just how much she wanted to follow them, speak to them, learn about them.

And he worried.

* * *

Mere weeks had passed since she'd arrived at the Northern Fortress, and already Kamui was making improvements. She answered to the name Corrin now, and the memories of her past seemed to be fading from her mind thanks to the sorcerers Father was sending to cleanse her. More and more frequently she was speaking in Common Tongue, and before Xander's eyes, one foggy afternoon, she sat with Nohrian-made toy soldiers.

The carved, polished oak was familiar to the eldest prince. It wasn't long ago that he'd played with a very similar set of soldiers - the cavalier, the warrior, the wyvern lord and all the other foot soldiers. They had been his favorite way to keep busy, hidden away in his bedroom and planning a battle. Or at least, they had been before he'd started paying more attention to his iron sword, leaving the wooden ones behind in his bedroom.

The almost amusing part of watching Corrin play, though, was that she wasn't using them to play war. Xander had never thought of anything but where to move the cavalry, how they could gallop in and take out the infantry. His understanding of war had been basic, but he'd known the soldiers were meant to fight.

However, Corrin's knights were resting with their horses in the fields, made of a grey dress she'd laid out on her bedroom floor. Her foot soldiers were in a circle and eating bread together, and all the while their god hummed as she flew the wyvern knights across the sky, smiling and blissfully ignorant to the error in her playtime ways.

Didn't she know they were supposed to be battling each other?

It would be years before Xander would see this behavior again in Elise, before he'd see it was simply a sign of a pure heart. But he knew well enough in that moment that Corrin was not meant for war, not like Nohr knew it. Despite having seen her father murdered before her eyes mere weeks ago, she remained… untouched. Innocent.

Perhaps the fading memories took with them the sorrowful impressions they'd left on her. Perhaps the pain of her loss was fading.

He wished he could say the same.

* * *

After Mother's funeral, the whole castle had seemed darker. His bedroom especially so, though perhaps the thick drapes, drawn shut to keep the outside world away, helped aid that feeling.

Xander had sat on the edge of his bed, his legs not yet long enough to bring his feet to the floor. And he'd cried. Only one thought had rested in his mind, stale and cold: He would never see his mother again.

He'd sucked in a shaky breath, his chest trembling as tears slipped down his cheeks. He'd been able to hold it all in through the service, the cremation… He hadn't wanted to cry in front of his siblings, in front of the whole crowd. In front of Father, especially. So he'd held it in until he could rush to his room, where he'd let it all out at once.

And though he'd hated it, he'd begun to realize amidst his tears that his mother was not coming to comfort him this time.

So, when a knock had come at his bedroom door, barely a quiet tapping, his heart had sprung up from his stomach, only to fall again under false hope. Quickly, he'd tried to wipe the tears from his face with a loud sniffle as the hinges of his door creaked open.

A large figure had stood in the open doorway, shadowed in black mourning robes, his familiar figure slouched and heavy with the weight of the past few days. His cloak, long and black, grazed the floor as he slipped in the door and nudged it shut behind him.

Xander had trembled as his father had approached him at his bed. His gaze slipped to the ground, away from the imposing figure and hoping to hide the tears in his eyes. Father had never liked it when he cried.

But rather than scold him, Garon had simply sunk to the bed with a dolorous sigh, sitting next to his son and waiting. Waiting for what, Xander hadn't known. They had sat in silence for what seemed a small eternity, simply breathing in each others presences and darkened auras, before Father had broken the pregnant silence.

"I wish there were words I could speak, my son…" he'd whispered. "That could take this pain away."

His voice had been quiet - quieter than Xander could ever remember it being - and thick with repressed emotion, but it had seemed to echo through the room, sending shockwaves through the young prince's stomach and trembles through his chest.

"I'm sorry."

Tears had welled up in Xander's eyes anew. True, there had been no right words for his father to say, but Xander, too, had wished there were any to be said that could fix everything. In that moment, all he'd wanted was Mother's hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that things would be alright.

Instead, he'd felt the hand of his father come to rest on his shoulder. A larger hand than Mother's, one whose owner spoke no words. When Xander had snuck a glance up at him, he'd seen his father's eyes were glazed over, shiny and grief-stricken.

The two of them had sat in silence, somberly taking what comfort they could in one another. Thankfully for Xander, the small feeling of his father's hand on his shoulder had been enough to keep his breathing steady.

* * *

" _Otousaaaaaaaan!_ "

He knew her loss. He remembered that pain in his stomach that he thought would never go away. He remembered missing his mother, wishing she were there, not believing she was gone. But he also remembered a small comfort he'd had while he'd grieved - someone at his side.

Though she screamed and cried, he crouched down next to her. He wished there was something he could say to make amends, but all he knew to do was place a gentle hand on her shoulder. She pulled away and let out a harder sob, and he let it be. But he sat by her side, trying to be as much a silent comfort as he could.

There were no words to be spoken. He himself couldn't take that pain and fear away. But eventually she cried herself into a daze and tired herself out, falling asleep with tear tracks on her cheeks. Xander found a blanket on the bed behind them and draped it over her, feeling it was simultaneously the least and the most he could do. And until Father came back, he waited next to her, eventually laying his hand back on her shoulder as her breathing deepened, finally steady.

* * *

Thirteen years later, he stood not at her side, but across from her. Everything he'd feared, everything he'd ever doubted stood before him as this girl, his sister, looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

His sister, who had so peacefully played with her toy soldiers, now surrounded by real ones.

"Don't be fooled by their words," said the High Prince. "You belong with your real family in Hoshido."

'Real family?' He thought of Camilla singing her to sleep, of her and Leo bickering and laughing, of her and Elise running home to the castle on a cold day. What were they if not her real family?

"We have loved you and raised you since you were a child," Xander said, and he meant every word behind it. They had loved her, and they still did - no matter how things had changed. He hoped she would say the same. "Come home, little princess."

His sister, who he had trained and encouraged and cherished since she was old enough to smile at him, now gripping her sword with conflict in her eyes.

"Come home to Hoshido."

'Home?' He'd dreaded the thought for thirteen years, that Corrin's home was never truly in Nohr. But that wasn't true, was it? Her home was where her family was. It always had been, even when it was a cold fortress.

"No, Corrin! Nohr is your home!" His voice remained firm, but his desperation grew.

Nohr is where Camilla was. Where Leo was. And Elise. Where her family was. Home.

The High Prince tried to call her away, and the youngest Hoshidan princess as well. Elise rushed forward with Camilla and Leo at her back, and the look on his youngest sister's face made it clear she was near tears. The Corrin he knew loved Elise, if anyone, far too much to break her heart. She would never.

He tried everything to reassure himself, but every second Corrin hesitated was one more that the worry in him grew.

He knew things could never be as they were, now that she knew the truth behind her origins. But despite knowing this – and having expected it for years – he still clung to a thread of hope.

What should blood matter? Surely their years together were stronger than whatever the Hoshidan strangers had to say to her. However they had criticized Nohr, criticized Father, surely there was nothing they could say that would convince her to turn away from her family. Xander had his doubts often enough as well, but his family was the reason he powered on.

Through all the years of darkness, they were the light. They were the reason he'd been able to keep going. Surely Corrin could empathize...

Perhaps this bond he'd felt with her over the years was a result of that awful night where she'd become his sister. Perhaps because he'd see a bit of himself in her – in her loss, in her fragility, in the the strength she eventually found in herself. She had a strong moral compass, a strong love for her family, and the heart he'd had as a child.

But one crucial difference between them now became clear:

She had a choice. A choice he had never, would never have.

"Xander, withdraw your troops."

* * *

 _And in spite of it all, we wound up here._

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Almost wanted to give this an open ending, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for prime angst. Also kept this chapter to quicker snapshots to keep it short and... well, I guess sweet isn't the right word, is it?**

 **Thank you for all the kind and constructive reviews! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you one last time to my brave beta for powering through all this:)**


End file.
